Hahahaha what do you mean I should be writing Chapter 9 for The Fairy Hero? W-What are you talking about? It's not like it's been months or something. *Laughs Nervously*
In any case I binged Haikyuu!! Season 1, 2, and 3. Yes I watch the English Dub, yes I'm a heathen, no I don't care. Some scenes are better is sub and some are better in dub, in my opinion, shut up.
Anyways I couldn't help but wonder how Kuroo, Akaashi, and Bokuto thought about the finals match (it was on TV too) since they helped and hung out with Tsukishima during the summer training camp. Anyways this is what happened when I wrote that out. I spent 4 hours writing this without stopping so here's to my first Haikyuu!! fic. Hope you all enjoy! Also, no beta so enjoy that.
Also, there's BokuAkaKuroTsu if you squint hard enough.
Also, fanfiction . Net, please fix your document manager. I copy and pasted this chapter 4 times and not once did it keep and bolding or italics when I checked it. I think I got my way around it somehow but, please, just fix it. Because if there aren't any spaces between paragraphs then that's not my fault. I'm currently looking at it in the document manager and there are spaces. When I publish it, I don't see any. Seriously, the hell?
-xXx-
It was the Miyagi Volleyball finals. Whoever won would move on to the National Championship and face off against even more challenging teams. This year, the finalists were the champions for three consecutive years, Shiratorizawa, against Karasuno, a previously powerhouse school that was making a comeback from its lost glory.
Tetsuro Kuroo was not part of either team, in fact, he was part of a team that wasn't even in this region. He was part of a team called Nekoma, in the Tokyo district. He looked to the pair next to him that had excitedly decided to come with him to watch the match with him even though Miyagi was several hours away. Kotaro Bokuto and Keiji Akaashi were both members of the team Fukurodani which was in the Kanto district. Their teams had met the members of the Karasuno Team when the coach of Nekoma had extended an invitation to them to join them at the Summer Training Camp. Fukurodani had won their tournament and was going to Nationals. Nekoma had the finals coming up soon.
But they didn't come to see who their future opponents would be. They came to support a close friend that they had made at the training camp. And if he really were that paranoid, he wouldn't have given a few of the members of Karasuno advice.
The members of Karasuno almost all had one thing in common. They were hyper. And skilled. Especially Shorty down there with his bright orange hair. Shoyo Hinata, #10 on the Karasuno team, may be a middle blocker standing at around 5'4, but he was friendly and had managed to make Kuroo's best friend Kenma Kozume come out of his shell. All of the members were skilled, some just had to be honed more than others.
No, they had come for the last person in their "Gymnasium 3" group. One Kei Tsukishima, #11. They had first met him when he was walking back to the room for Karasuno and just so happened to see him walking past the gym they were in. Bokuto had wanted to practice his spiking and needed a blocker. Akaashi was a setter and couldn't block while Kuroo had been in charge of making sure Lev Haida could properly receive.
There weren't any other members of Nekoma or Fukurodani in the gym and Kuroo knew that he was a middle blocker. A tall one too. Though Kuroo couldn't help but notice that he didn't put as much effort into the sport as the members of his other team. Tsukishima, or Tsukki as Tsukishima's best friend Tadashi Yamaguchi (who was #12) called him, had initially refused at first, but when Kuroo had told him that as a middle blocker, "he should practice blocking once in a while" the 6'2 boy had stormed into the gym without a word, Bokuto slyly giving Kuroo a thumbs up.
Tsukishima had put up a noble effort trying to block Bokuto's spikes but he couldn't block a single one of them. Knowing that Lev wouldn't get off the floor anytime soon, Kuroo had joined Tsukishima with blocking and told the blonde to keep Bokuto's straight spikes in check. When Bokuto attempted a cross-court spike, Kuroo had quickly shifted his hands over and blocked it, letting out a mini-victory cry when he landed back on the ground.
He and Bokuto had then begun to talk about how his blocks were weak, yet well timed and placed. Tsukishima had gotten a little irritated at Bokuto jokingly fearing that his spikes would break Tsukishima's arms. Kuroo called him "Skinny" for a reason... Tsukishima had quickly responded by noting how he was only a first-year and that he had more time to grow more muscle. Kuroo had teased him and told him that Hinata would quickly surpass him and so he should hurry and practice more.
Tsukishima had been oddly quiet at the remark causing both him and Bokuto to give him an odd look before he claimed that the difference in talent between him in Hinata was too vast.
Kuroo had frowned. What, the shorty was more talented than the tall smart player?
Tsukishima had left as soon as some Nekoma players had returned, offering to help block. Kuroo had called after him, but he didn't stop. Akaashi had sighed and told him he had struck a nerve while Bokuto teased him for his sudden lack of people skills. Kuroo wanted to apologize but he didn't know where Tsukishima had gone and didn't think that he wanted to speak to him, so he settled for apologizing to Karasuno's Captain, Daichi Sawamura.
Tsukishima arrived at their gym the following day. Kuroo remembered the conversation like it was yesterday. He, Akaashi, and Bokuto were the only ones in the gym that evening.
"Oya?" Akaashi had suddenly said during a break of practice, looking at the doorway.
"Oya oya?" Bokuto grinned, seeing Tsukishima in the doorway, looking slightly confused at the response.
"Oya oya oya?" Kuroo followed up, wanting to get the boy to show more than his usual stoic face.
Tsukishima ignored them and stepped into the gym. "There's something I would like to ask you. Do you mind?"
"Oh, no!" Bokuto and Kuroo responded together.
Tsukishima looked slightly taken aback, "Okay then, so uh, here goes. You're on a team that's known for being pretty good, right?"
Bokuto frowned and Kuroo scowled. Pretty good? They were amazing. "Well yeah," Kuroo responded.
"Even if you could get to nationals, it's difficult to win it all, right?"
"It's not impossible, jackass!" Bokuto snapped.
"Oh don't get all bent out of shape," Akaashi told them. "Let's just hear him out, okay?"
"I'm asking a sincere question here," Tsukishima continued. "What drives you guys to work so hard? Volleyball's only an extracurricular activity. Is there any benefit to it other than being able to put it on your college application or something like that?"
Bokuto's eyes narrowed sharply. "Just an extracurricular?" Tsukishima flinched slightly. "I have a mind to punch you in the face!"
"Dude!" Kuroo exclaimed, surprised at the other captain's bluntness. "Maybe he's just more interested in his grades. Not that you would know anything about that."
"What did you say!? I've been getting better! I got a 47 on my Trig test!"
"Uh, should I say something or..." Tsukishima asked awkwardly from his spot near Akaashi.
"Nah, this'll take a minute," Akaashi responded, unphased from the sudden argument.
"Um, congratulations?"
"Damn right! I'm like a super genius over here!" Bokuto suddenly whipped his head to Tsukishima. "Heeey, tall dude with the glasses!"
"It's Tsukishima," the person of question corrected.
"Fine then, Tsukki-bleh-de-deh. Is this game fun to you?"
Tsukishima considered the question before answering, "No, not really?"
"You think maybe that's 'cause you suck at it?" Tsukishima briefly attained an irritated face before paying attention to what the Fukurodani captain was saying. "I'm a third-year and I've gone to nationals. So I'm way better than you. I'm like, two a you."
"I already know that."
"But it wasn't until only recently I felt that volleyball was fun. It started when line shots became a viable option for me during games. Blockers were starting to catch on to my cross-court shots, making things difficult. So I got ticked and practiced my line shots super hard. Then, at the next tournament, it's the same blockers. I shot right through and didn't even let 'em touch the ball. Made complete fools of 'em. That one shot alone felt like, 'Yeaaahh my time has come!' know what I'm saying?"
Bokuto laughed before sending another intense look at Tsukishima who flinched again. "It's all about having a special badass personal moment like that. Who cares about the future? As long as you have a chance at winning the next game, nothing else really matters, does it? You get hooked on the rush of beating the guy in front of you, playing with 120% of your skill, there's nothing better!"
Tsukishima stared at him in awe as Bokuto seemed to have finished his story.
"Well anyways that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Even though, yeah I know it might not really apply to everybody, so when you say volleyball is only an extracurricular activity, I literally do not understand what you mean. That said, I don't necessarily think you're wrong either, pal. However, if that moment ever does come to you, that's the moment you'll fall in love with volleyball."
Tsukishima's eyes widened as Bokuto finished. He quickly looked to his left when he heard a loud clapping sound next to him. Bokuto was somehow next to him despite being in front of him before.
"Okay, I answered your question, so you owe me a few blocks!"
"Yup, fair is fair, after all," Kuroo agreed, him and Bokuto putting their hands on Tsukishima's back and ushering him into the gym further.
"Wait! Um..." Tsukishima's protests were ignored. While they practiced blocking, Kuroo showed Tsukishima the best way to block (so he could block Bokuto's spikes in a real game) as Tsukishima perfected the timing by watching Kuroo block Lev who had joined them after a while.
Turning his attention back to the game, Kuroo made his attention to the scores. They were at their second set 29-28 with Karasuno in the lead. It was Shiratorizawa's serve though.
Kuroo whisted, "This duce sure is lasting a long time, and they've got three more sets to go."
"I hope they don't run out of energy, or at least win before they reach a fifth set," Akaashi mused.
"C'MON GUYS!!! YOU GOT THIS!!! WIN THE SET!!!" Bokuto shouted, attracting more than a few eyes to him, but they were quickly turned back to the game.
"How hard do you think Ushiwaka's spike is to block, Kuroo?" Akaashi asked.
He brought his hand up to his chin in thought, "Well I guess it would depend on the tempo. At third or second, we definitely would be able to get some one-touches off, and at the first tempo we could get a one-touch off if we were in position. As for kill blocks, well I think that his spikes are too high to get those off. Maybe if it was a low set, but their setter is still pretty good at getting those perfect serves down."
Bokuto leaned back in his seat, "Tsukki can do it!" Bokuto's expression turned into more of a frown. "Though, look at how hard Ushiwaka spikes those. I would not want to be on the receiving end of one of those, blocking or not."
They continued to watch the game. The ball was served. Daich, #1, jumped and slid on the ground to receive the ball. Asahi Azumane, #3 and also the team's ace player, spiked the ball into a group of blockers and sent it flying back. Ryuunosuke Tanaka, #5, sent the ball forwards #9, Tobio Kageyama to set. All of the wing spikers ran forwards in a synchronized attack, confusing the enemy blockers creating an opening for a spike, scoring Karasuno a point.
Upon the serve coming to their side, Karasuno rotated, putting Daichi as their server. The other team received the ball and got it to their setter who set it in position for a spike. Ushiwaka moved forwards and jumped to spike it. Kageyama, Tsukishima, and Asahi all got into position to block, leaving the timing up to Tsukishima. When they jumped to block, they forced Ushijima to spike in the only direction he could. A straight spike to Karasuno's Libero. #4 Yuu Nishinoya, who just so happened to be the shortest member of their team.
The Shiratorizawa setter snarled something in frustration, but they were too far away for Kuroo to hear. Tanaka barely managed to keep the ball from hitting the ground and for their last hit they had to send the ball to the other side which Daichi managed to do.
The libero of Shiratorizawa received the ball, getting it to the setter. The setter, due to his annoyance and frustration of not being able to get good spikes to his setter, and panic because of how close the set was, set the ball to Ushijima early.
Kuroo, Akaashi, and Bokuto watched as the set became a bit low when Ushijima spiked it.
"There's only one blocker there!" Bokuto cried out in panic as Asahi moved to get ready to block. Quickly, Tsukishima moved near Asahi and they jumped.
Kuroo quickly noticed the problem in their blocking, and so he shouted, knowing that they probably couldn't hear them, "Fill the gap!"
When Asahi and Tsukishima had jumped, there was enough of a gap between the two of them that Ushijima could easily spike into. And if he wanted to avoid Nishinoya receiving it, that was the only spot he could spike to.
Ushiwaka pulled back his hand and spiked the ball as hard as he could between the gap... and right into Tsukishima's kill block. The ball slammed loudly and harshly onto the floor on Shiratorizawa's side of the court. There wasn't a sound. Everyone was silent as they just witnessed Ushiwaka get kill blocked for the first time in a very long time. The outburst was to be expected though.
"He blocked Ushijima!?"
"Who is he?"
"No idea!"
"Karasuno just took back the second set!" Shouted the announcer.
"Hey guys," Akaashi said, looking down at Tsukishima with a small, fond smile. "I think he's having his moment."
Bokuto was grinning like a madman. Kuroo gave his devilish grin. He could practically hear the memory that came to Tsukishima's mind.
"However, if that moment ever does come to you,"
Tsukishima raised his fist to the air...
"That's the moment you'll fall in love with volleyball."
...and brought it back down, screaming two words at the top of his lungs.
"ALL RIGHT!!!"
Everyone else on their team, and some spectators who knew Tsukishima started screaming as well. The three joined in. That was the first time they had ever heard Tsukishima get excited about anything in volleyball.
They watched as Tanaka and Nishinoya charged Tsukishima. Tanaka throwing his arm around his shoulders and punching him in the stomach playfully while Nishinoya jumped onto Tsukishima and playfully bit into his shoulder in pure excitement. More of his teammates ran up to him and congratulated him on his amazing block.
As the excitement slowly died down. Akaashi gave Kuroo a smile, "He was able to do that because of you."
Kuroo blinked in confusion. Bokuto playfully dug his elbow into Kuroo's ribcage, "You're a pretty good teacher."
Kuroo smiled, "I'm proud of him."
When the excitement died down, the third set began. Compared to the second set, and the slaughter that was the first, the third and fourth set weren't as exciting. Shiratorizawa took the third set and Karasuno the fourth, meaning that the finals would have to go into a 15 point fifth set.
The third and fourth sets were mainly back and forth between the two teams. Both were neck and neck throughout the sets, with the third set going into a duce.
Now it was the fifth set, and Ushijima was determined to make a cross-court shot while avoiding the blockers that were forcing him to make straight shots. Tsukishima's concentration was impressive, considering how exhausted he had most likely gotten through the other four sets. The setter tossed the ball as the red-headed spiker acted as a decoy for Ushijima.
Tsukishima and Asahi jumped up to block Ushijima as a two-man block. Ushijima took the opportunity to attempt a cross-court shot. No one, except for Ushijima who only reacted with a quick glance towards him, heard Tsukishima let out a gasp of pain and the ball grazed his hand.
A whistle blew, signaling that the ball had landed out of bounds, which should have resulted in Karasuno's point had it not been overruled because of the ball barely bouncing off of the blockers' hands.
"Aww they almost had that!" Bokuto whined.
Kuroo shrugged as the ball went to Shiratorizawa, "Those things happen."
There was a pause of silence before Akaashi spoke up. "Shouldn't they have blown the serve whistle by now?"
Murmurs spread across the stands as the referees called for a time out. Panic started to settle in the three of them as a few people, including Karasuno's Coach Ukai, began to crowd around Tsukishima.
"Huh? What's happening?" Bokuto asked, staring down at the court. They watched as Tsukishima was starting to be ushered out of the gym.
The three looked at each other in confusion, as did the crowd, before the announcer answered the main question.
"Due to injury to his hand, #11 Kei Tsukishima is being substituted out for #8 Kazuhito Narita!"
Kuroo spotted one of the club managers, Yachi, run out of the stands and into the hallway, followed by someone who looked like they could be Tsukishima's brother.
"C'mon, let's go see if he's okay," Kuroo told Bokuto and Akaashi as they hurried out of the stands. They ran to the entrance and saw Tsukishima talking to the two. Kuroo saw Tsukishima's classic smirk on his face he made when he said something snarky, but even from a distance, Kuroo could tell it was forced.
"TSUKKIIIII!!!" Bokuto shouted, causing Yachi, Tsukishima, the other club manager Kiyoko, and the other person whirl around. Yachi and Tsukishima's eyes widened when they saw them.
"Huh? What are you guys doing here?" Yachi asked when they caught up.
"To watch Karasuno make it to nationals, of course!" Bokuto exclaimed.
Kuroo chuckled, "And to see if my teaching helped. Nice block, by the way, Tsukki."
The person they didn't know looked at Tsukishima, "Do you know them, Kei?"
Tsukishima nodded, "I met them at the summer training camp. Kuroo, Bokuto, Akaashi, this is my older brother Akiteru."
"Oh, it's nice to meet you," Akiteru said, somewhat awkwardly.
Akaashi nodded before turning to Tsukishima, "Hey, show us your hand."
With a moment's hesitation, Tsukishima removed the towel covering his hand. They all winced when they saw it. There was some bruising on Tsukishima's hand, especially on his pinky. They saw some dried blood (and a bit more that was coming that had been covered by the towel) dripping down from between his pinky and ring finger.
Kuroo took Tsukishima's hand gently and examined it. "That's definitely dislocated. But, if you can stop the bleeding and get a splint for your finger, you should be good to go." He suddenly winced. "Serving, blocking, and spiking are gonna hurt now though. And no way in hell will you be writing with that."
Tsukishima swore under his breath, "What should I do then?"
Kuroo smirked, "Do what you're best at. Come up with a plan while you rest to defeat Shiratorizawa. As good as a team Karasuno is, you're vital in defeating them. No one on Karasuno is as good at read-blocking as you are."
Tsukishima nodded, "Yeah, I have been playing for five sets so I guess I just started making mistakes, so I could use the rest. And my hand does hurt a little bit, but it's not too bad."
Kuroo knew that was a lie as soon as Tsukishima turned around and began to walk to the infirmary, hissing in pain. Kiyoko, Yachi, and Akiteru followed him.
"C'mon, let's go back to our seats," Akaashi told them, a reluctant Bokuto agreeing.
As they walked back, Akaashi and Kuroo could hear Bokuto chanting under his breath, "Please be okay. Please be okay. Please be okay."
Kuroo put his hand on Bokuto's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. This was probably the first time anyone had seen a serious injury like that during the middle of a game. And it wasn't a first for Karasuno. Apparently, Daichi had to be removed from a game due to a head injury a few days earlier. In fact, Kuroo could still make out the bruise on Daichi's face.
-xXx-
As they watched the fifth set continue, they were disheartened to see that Karasuno was starting to lose without Tsukishima to one-touch most spikes.
Kuroo looked at Bokuto. He looked like he wanted nothing more than to get into a Karasuno uniform and start playing for them to make sure they win. So that Tsukishima injuring his hand wasn't for nothing. Thankfully, the spirits of the Karasuno members were heightened as they strived to win for Tsukishima.
Eventually, Karasuno managed to catch up to Shiratorizawa, getting the points to 12-12. Tadashi was currently acting as pinch server in place of Hinata, who apparently couldn't serve very well and wasn't the best at back attacks either. Tadashi managed to score a point when one of the members of the other team touched the ball, despite it obviously heading out of bounds.
When the coach of Shiratorizawa called for a time out, Karasuno took the time to get rest and discuss more plans. Kuroo didn't like the feeling he got when he saw Shiratorizawa come out of the time out with heightened spirits. He didn't like it even more when they managed to pull ahead of Karasuno, the score being 14-13, putting Shiratorizawa at match point.
Karasuno quickly scored another point, causing a duce. Now, once one of the teams scored two points in a row, the match would be over.
The morale of Karasuno began to dampen when Shiratorizawa scored again. Before the next serve whistle could be blown, Coach Ukai stood up and yelled.
"Don't you hang your heads! Stop it!!!" Even the cheer squad for Shiratorizawa stopped to listen. "Volleyball is a sport where you always have to look up!!!"
Kuroo smirked when the spirits of the Karasuno members did a 180 and every single one of them looked raring to go. However, before the serve whistle could blow, the Karasuno members looked toward the entrance of the gym.
Bokuto let out a yell of relief and delight when he saw Tsukishima run onto the court, Kiyoko trailing behind him, hand bandaged, determination clear in his eyes. When Karasuno got a hold of the ball for serving after scoring a point, causing yet another duce, Tsukishima was switched in. He quickly told everyone on the team something and judging by his commanding face, he had a plan.
With Tsukishima's plan in action, the game didn't last much longer. Karasuno managed to pull ahead by a point. Daichi served and the match began to go back and forth very quickly. Asahi spiked only to get blocked. Shiratorizawa would spike, only to get blocked by Tsukishima, who was no doubt in a lot of pain at that point. Tanaka and Nishinoya managed to receive and pass to Kageyama and send it to Shiratorizawa's side. Eventually, Nishinoya jumped and set mid-air, prompting everyone to run forwards to attempt to spike.
The match was decided when Hinata scored a point with a back attack within their synchronized attack, winning the game for Karasuno. The crowd cheered.
Kuroo smiled as he watched Daich, Asahi, and their other setter Koushi Sugawara also begin to cry and hug each other as the only third-years of the team. Tsukishima was tackled by Nishinoya, Tadashi, and Kazuhito, while Kageyama and Hinata were pulled into a group hug by Tanaka to which Ennoshita and someone else Kuroo didn't recognize joined in.
Kuroo smiled at Bokuto and Akaashi who grinned back.
"I guess we'll see them at Nationals," Akaashi smiled.
Bokuto let out a yell of happiness, "Can't wait to go up against them since they've perfected all of their attacks!" He then sent a narrowed eye at Kuroo, "And we better see Nekoma at Nationals too!"
Kuroo gave his trademark devilish grin again, "Oh don't worry, we'll be there."
"Can we go down and see Tsukki?" Bokuto asked in a whining voice.
Akaashi gave Bokuto a small smile, "How about we wait until we visit him some other time. He's probably exhausted and has the award ceremony to go through."
"Okay," grumbled Bokuto, whining slightly.
Looking down at the court, Kuroo managed to make eye-contact with Tsukishima who gave him a proud and tired smile. Tsukishima left the gym in order to get ready for the award ceremony.
"Man, I can't wait to go against Karasuno during the Nationals!" Bokuto grinned.
"Owls versus Crows," Akaashi mused.
Kuroo snorted, "Not as famous as the classic Cats versus Crows battle. Our coaches want it. And if they ask, they shall receive."
-xXx-
So, what'd you think? Before you say anything, I know a lot of stuff was out of character, but I've pretty much given up and trying to write characters well. At least I kept the "Oya?" joke in.
Guys I this fic needs a name other than "Haikyuu!! One shot" please for the love of god please give me title suggestions for this fic.
Word count: 4,082 words