A/N: Wow look at that. An update in a somewhat timely fashion. Yes, school is still killing me (and now my allergies have flared up so yall know that im just thriving right now) but I didnt want to go so long without an update again. A huge thank you to everyone who has followed this story so far! It's crazy to see that it's almost 100 people. Literally mind blown and I appreciate yall so much! I hope everyone enjoys this chapter and as always, please leave a comment/review/critique/suggestion/etc.! They honestly make my day :)
Sugawara was anything but a morning person. He always felt as if he could get more sleep than what he got. This was especially true at training camps. His whole body ached from doing all those flying laps yesterday and then Tanaka and Nishinoya had been cracking butt jokes in the room until Daichi yelled at them. He barely had enough energy to yell at Nishinoya to be careful with Tsukishima's glasses.
"Yo! Suga-chan!" Nekoma's captain sat down next to him, his tray also piled high with food.
"Ah, Kuroo!" Suga smiled. He and the rooster-haired captain had spoken the previous day for some time on different defense and offense strategies. The conversation had then taken a more personal turn, and they discovered that they both liked some of the same things and exchanged phone numbers.
"How's it going? Get enough sleep?" Kuroo asked, shoveling his food into his face.
"I wish," Suga yawned. "Is there a thing as enough sleep?"
"Ah true, it is quite the foreign concept."
Suga hummed in agreement, eating his food. His eyes drifted to where some of the managers were serving food. Emiko was one of them, and she smiled brightly at each person she served. She stood in between Kiyoko and Nekoma's manager. The three girls joked with each other and laughed.
"I told Emiko this back when we played you guys during Golden Week," Kuroo said. "But you two would make a great couple."
Suga had just finished taking a big bite of rice and it all threatened to come back up as he was attacked by a fit of coughing. He wasn't sure what he expected Kuroo to say, but that sure was not it. The captain laughed and passed him a cup of water.
After Suga ensured that he was going to survive, he spluttered. "You told her what?"
"That you two would make a great couple, and I still believe that you know. You should confess to her."
"Ah. Well. You see-"
"I mean you two are clearly going through something," Kuroo continued to eat as if he wasn't completely throwing Sugawara for a loop. "So you should make up, go back to the trust you had before whatever fight you had, build up some more trust, confess, date, and see what happens. See, quite simple really."
There was a long pause.
Which soon turned a bit awkward.
"Um, Suga-chan?" Kuroo turned towards his companion, shifting awkwardly at the long silence.
"Do you have flowers for a brain?" Suga said, his eye twitching. "If it were really that simple do you think that we would be in this situation? No, we wouldn't."
"And here I thought that I had great people skills," Kuroo said under his breath. "Okay, okay. I admit that it is not that simple. And I really don't know the situation that you're in. But I just remember that you two looked like great friends back during Golden Week and it's kinda sad to see you guys act so distant."
"I mean this in the best way. Like, I try don't mean any offense but I'm just really curious: Why do you care so much?"
Kuroo cackled. "No offense taken my guy. Let's just say that I love helping people fall in love. I mean as a person who has barely any relationship experience, I like helping other people get with people. I don't know if that makes sense. It's easier to try to solve other peoples problems instead of my own."
Suga couldn't help but laugh. He watched curiously as Kuroo's eyes followed his manager across the room. "I mean, it looks as if you need advice on relationships too."
The captain's face turned a bright red.
Emiko paced by the door to the gym. The mood amongst the Karasuno had been weird ever since Asahi and Hinata collided during a set against Nekoma and then Hinata told Kageyama that he wanted to try the freak quick with his eyes open. It was an uncomfortable feeling, and the team seemed to be at a crossroads where they could stay in this comfortable zone that they were in, or break out of their comfort zone into the unknown and possibly either grow exponentially or completely fail.
The tension had seemed to be even higher between the two first-years, so Suga took them outside to try to mediate a discussion. Coach Ukai had followed them out shortly after. Emiko desperately wanted to know what was being said, but she knew that it wasn't her place to join that conversation.
As Coach Ukai, Suga, and the two first years re-entered the gym, Coach Ukai turned to Hinata and said, "Hey, sit this one out and take some time to cool off. Narita! You'll be in for Hinata!"
Narita's face looked panicked but he yelled, "Yes Coach!" And bowed.
Everyone else was somewhat shocked. No hate towards Narita, but everyone knew deep down that they could do more damage with Hinata on the court. Plus, this was their final set and it was against Fukurodani, which was arguably one of the best teams at the training camp.
As the players began to prepare for the set, Emiko could not quell her curiosity. Sugawara was stretching and she walked over to where he was.
"What happened?" She asked him in a low voice.
Suga looked up at her, and then cast his eyes about to make sure that no one else was around. "Like he said against Nekoma, Hinata wants to try hitting the freak quick with his eyes open. And Kageyama said no, in a really rational way."
"Why did he say no? What about at least trying it?"
"Kageyama was basically like there is too much risk of failure, and instead of tinkering with a powerful weapon, that we should focus on improving other attacks."
"Hm," Emiko was silent for a moment. "And I'm guessing that Coach Ukai just back Kageyama up?"
"Yep," Suga nodded. "He said that to do it with his eyes open would be virtually impossible."
"Yeah. . .But you have to admit that if Hinata could do it with his eyes open it would become even more powerful."
"Oh there's no denying it, but I have to agree with Coach and Kageyama. There's no guarantee that it will work and instead we could be wasting time on something that harms us in the end. And we do need that time to work on other attacks. I think we've seen that very clearly here, we need to grow if we ever want a chance to go to nationals in the spring."
Coach Ukai called the huddle at that moment and Emiko stayed in deep thought for a couple moments. She could honestly see and understand both sides of the argument. Hinata wanted to grow and make this powerful play even more powerful. And Kageyama recognized that it worked well as it was, and that there were other things to work on.
But even though the issue seemed to be resolved in Kageyama's favor, Emiko couldn't help but feel as if it was truly not over. Something was going to happen, and it would either push the duo to be better or split them apart completely.
It had been a long day.
A long two days in all honesty.
And Sugawara felt the exhaustion in his bones.
When they finally arrived back at Karasuno, it was late, and the usual lively bunch of high schoolers were subdued. Everyone worked silently as they put things back in the club room and in the gym. Each of their beds seemed to be calling them and it seemed as if everyone (except Hinata and Kageyama, of course those two still seemed to have some energy leftover from who knows where) couldn't wait to get to them.
But Suga was on a mission. There had seemed to be a shift during the past two days between him and Emiko. It almost felt as if both wanted to apologize but neither knew how. Basically, it was the opportunity he had been waiting for.
Suga waited outside the gym as Emiko and Kiyoko came out. The two girls were talking about something but stopped their conversation as they saw him. Kiyoko gave her friend a side eye before looking back at him.
"I just realized that I left something in my locker," she said, turning on her heel and leaving Suga and Emiko alone.
He could feel his face turn red and could hear his heart beating. "Um, can I walk you home? I think we need to talk. . ."
"Yeah," Emiko agreed quietly.
The first couple minutes of their walk was silent. Suga tried to find the right words to say, but he kept thinking about what had happened on their last walk together and kept feeling the need to apologize even more. Which then stressed him out as he didn't know how to apologize properly.
"I'm sorry about not telling you about the bet with Oikawa," Emiko whispered. "I wish I had been the one to tell you and that you didn't have to hear it from other people. I just want to let you know that I truly only went on that date because of the bet and not because I have feelings for him."
"I know," Suga said. "I know you went on that date because of the bet. And yeah, I wish you had been the one to tell me about it. It hurt hearing that information from other people when I thought that we had a friendship where we could tell each other about anything."
"I'm sorry."
"I forgive you," he took a deep breath. "And I apologize about what I said. No matter how hurt I was, that was no excuse for lashing out and saying those things. I hope you know that I don't believe what I said and that you can forgive me."
Emiko looked up at him, a smile across her face and her eyes shining. "Of course I forgive you."
"Oh, and I hope you can forgive me for the whole Suzuki thing. I will admit that I said yes to having lunch with her that first day to spite you, but after that it was really all her."
She laughed and Suga felt as if all was right it his world. She turned to him and held her hand out, "Friends again then?"
He grasped her hand. "Best friends." And then he pulled her into a hug.
Sugawara highly doubted that their friendship would go back the way that it was before the argument. But to be honest, he didn't it want to go back to normal. He wanted it to progress forward and become something more than a friendship.
They were at a crossroads where they could either stay simply friends, or could become something more. It all depended on what they chose to do next.