After Yachi pushes the volleyball cart away, Bokuto slings his arm around Yachi's shoulder and expressed, "Hn, it'll be awhile before we meet again for the next training camp, Yacchan."
Yachi lightly gave a defeated smile as the Fukurodani's ace placed his arm comfortably on Yachi's shoulder. Bokuto chuckles at her response and lightly poke on her cheek, "Are you going to miss me, Yacchan?"
"It's just two weeks, Bokuto-san." Akaashi added.
Bokuto pouts and pokes on Yachi's cheek again. "Where else can I touch a soft cheek like hers…look Akaashi – puni~puni~." Bokuto proceeds to squish Yachi's cheek with his fingers, stretching it lightly before poking at it again. Yachi felt defeated at this moment.
"Ahem!" A loud cough caught all of their attention and Yachi looks upon her savior.
"Captain!" Yachi's eyes brightened at Daichi walking over her.
"I hope you're not planning to bully our manager, Bokuto-san." Daichi spoke, eyeing the arm that was placed on Yachi's shoulders.
"What? Of course not!" Bokuto huffed.
Akaashi sighs before he managed to push Bokuto's arm away from Yachi's shoulders. "I'm so sorry, Sawamura-san. Our ace can be a bit dramatic."
"Right." Daichi was grateful that there was at least another sensible and responsible person like Akaashi to watch over Yachi when she's away from his field of vision.
Yachi hops over to Daichi's side and stood behind him. Daichi smiles, satisfied that Yachi came over his side quickly.
"Well then. I'd like to say thank you to your team. You helped us a lot during this week from the practice matches. I'd like to send my gratitude to your managers as well, they've been incredibly helpful to Karasuno in the past few days." Daichi spoke, facing the captain and vice-captain of Fukurodani team directly.
"Likewise, Sawamura-san. We look forward to your plays next time." Akaashi returned the pleasantries before he turned to Yachi and nodded at her, "Thank you, Yachi-san, for helping our team in the past few days as well."
"It was really fun when you came to our team, Yacchan! Feel free to ask us any time you need help!" Bokuto added.
"It was a pleasure working with you." Yachi returned with her own polite bow.
"You sure have a lot of reliable members in your team, Sawamura-san. Even though this might be your first training with our group, we hope we can have more opportunities like this in the future."
"We'll do our best to keep that promise." Daichi smiled.
Bokuto lightly laughs and patted Daichi's shoulder a few times. "I look forward to it!"
Yachi did her last round of checking all over the areas to see whether her team had left something behind. So far she had found some that belonged to her members so she made sure gather them and bring them all to the bus so nothing left should be left behind.
As she was making her last minute checking in the gyms, she spotted a wristband that belonged to Hinata and quickly picked it up. When she turns around to leave the gym, she accidentally bumped into someone who was walking towards her way.
"S-sorry!" She apologizes and sees the familiar pudding head was taking a step behind from their momentary clash.
"It's okay, Yachi-san. Are you okay?" Kenma asked.
"I'm okay." Yachi replied, noticing that he was holding a familiar looking shoe bag that belonged to Hinata. "Ah – is that Hinata's?"
Kenma blinked and looked to the shoe bag he was holding. "Oh so this belonged to Hinata-kun. I found this from the other side of the court, I guess you can take it since you're his manager."
"Thank you so much, Kozume-san." She was relieved that Kenma found it because it'll be quite a panic if Hinata left his shoe bag behind all the way in Tokyo.
When Yachi checks whether there were any shoes inside the bag, Kenma spoke out again. "Is everything okay?"
"Huh?" Yachi perked up, confused by the sudden question.
Kenma shifted his eyes, a little worried to continue. "I saw what happened with your team. Did something happen between Hinata and the rest of the team members?"
"A-ah." Yachi was a little off guard by this question but seeing how perceptive the Nekoma's setter was, she isn't that surprised that Kenma was able to figure out that something definitely happened in Karasuno team.
Yachi smiled sheepishly, hoping that the issue doesn't worry Kenma too much. "Everything is okay."
Kenma doesn't look like he was convinced as his eyebrows furrowed deeper. "Are you sure? You look a bit…worn out."
Yachi tries to laugh it off, "Don't worry, Kozume-san. Everything is okay."
"I see." He added again, "If…if you have any concerns, you can talk to me if you'd like."
"O-oh." Yachi blinked at the offer, "Thank you for the kind offer, Kozume-san."
"You can call me Kenma. Kozume feels a little stiff." He replied, slightly rubbing his hand behind his neck when he felt the flush heating up his neck.
"Yes, Kozu – Kenma-san." Yachi nodded.
"That's more like it." Kenma smiled, feeling the satisfaction from Yachi calling his name properly.
Yachi felt herself getting flustered a little bit, seeing the smile on Kenma's face was a bit surprising since he rarely shows any other type of expressions around people. Maybe since she doesn't know him that well but that smile was really nice on him.
Yachi couldn't help but smiled back at him in return despite feeling like she's melting inside.
Before they board on their bus, Yachi finds herself saying farewells to her new friends. It might be just a week but she couldn't believe that in the previous days, she made incredible friends with so many great people in Tokyo.
"I'm so going to miss you, Yacchan!" Eri says as she hugs her close and snuggled to Yachi's small body.
Yachi smiles with a light chuckle as she hugs the older girl back. "I'll see you in the upcoming training camp, Eri-san."
This time Kaori and Yukie wanted to hug Yachi as well as each took their turns. With Kaori being the last one, she hugs Yachi a little longer as she sighs to Yachi's hair. "I will never forget this softness."
"Right? It's like holding a baby bird." Yukie added.
"A fluffy baby bird." Eri commented as well.
Kiyoko who was watching them laughs at their expressions. "Thank you so much for helping us. We will never forget your kindness."
"It's no problem! I'm so glad that we have you two to join our training camps now. We need more helping hands during these troubling times." Kaori replied.
"Your presences helped us the most this week. We couldn't be more grateful." Yukie said.
Kiyoko was relieved to hear that they were both helpful during this training camp. "That's a relief."
"Girls! We're going now!" Takeda-sensei called them over as the bus engine started.
Kiyoko turned to Yachi, "That's our cue." Turning to the managers one more time, she bid her goodbye, "Thank you everyone for your generosity. Until next time!"
"Until next time, everyone!" Yachi added.
The managers of Karasuno boarded the bus and took their seats. Yachi turns to the windows and waved to the people outside of the bus. She sees some familiar faces of the captains and their members, waving enthusiastically at them.
"See you later, everyone!" Yachi mouthed at them.
She sees Bokuto energetically waving his arms at her, while Kuroo waves with his right hand and made a phone gesture while mouthing at her, "Don't forget to contact me, Yacchan."
Yachi lightly laughs at his words and merely nodded at him. Hopefully that will reassure him enough. Once the bus started to move, Yachi finally sat on her seat properly and let out a big sigh.
'What a long week. Hopefully everything will continue on smoothly from now on.'
Yachi woke up to a gentle pat on her shoulder.
"Yachi-chan, we're already here."
Yachi slightly blinked her blurry eyes open and saw two faces from her vision. First she sees the gentle yet worried looking face of Kiyoko peering down on her. The one next to her was Tanaka who was also wearing the same concerned expression.
"Hn? Shimizu-senpai? Tanaka-senpai?" Yachi called out, her voice sounded a little rough and weak.
Kiyoko then placed her palm on Yachi's forehead, "Hn…you're a bit warm. Are you feeling unwell, Yachi-chan?"
Yachi wasn't awake fully but after coming back to reality and slowly felt herself waking up, she was suddenly greeted with a light headache and an itchy throat.
"Um..I just feel a bit tired." Yachi spoke honestly. She wasn't lying if she were to say that her body felt extremely heavy because of tiredness but she didn't want to be a trouble to her upperclassmen.
"Yachi-chan, you should take it easy." Tanaka spoke worriedly, "You look a little pale."
"Do you feel nauseous? Headache?" Shimizu asked again gently.
Yachi shook her head, "No. I just feel tired. Don't worry about me, senpai."
"Don't push yourself, Yacchan. If you feel like you're about to drop any moment, please let us know." Tanaka added.
"Hn. I'll keep that in mind, senpai." Yachi reassured him.
Afterwards, the whole team took their belongings and gathered outside of the bus. Takeda-sensei and Coach Ukai spoke a few announcements before they were all dismissed and went back to their homes.
Kiyoko and Yachi had to drop of some things at the club room so Yachi took some of the equipment and left it there. Kiyoko told Yachi to head home first and leave the rest of the organizing to her. So Yachi followed her senpai's orders and left the club room to get back home.
It was during this walk at night she felt a little uneasy. Since she had already changed back from her jersey to her uniform, she felt a little cold since she wasn't wearing her jacket. Yachi shivered when a wind passes by.
"I hope I'm not getting sick." Yachi whispered to herself as she rubs her arms together in hopes to keep her body warm.
However, she sees the bright and opened gymnasium when she was walking towards the gates. Yachi was confused at who would be still practicing by this time of hour. Worrying that it might be the members of her club, Yachi went there to take a peek at who was using the gym.
When she looked inside, she sees Hinata and Kageyama preparing the net and the balls together.
"Huh? Aren't you two going home?" She asked.
"Yachi-san, if you don't mind, could you throw some balls for us?" Hinata asked lightly at his request.
Yachi felt troubled by his request, "Huh? Can I do that?" She was genuinely asking because she doesn't have any skills prior to volleyball.
However, Hinata explained to her, "You just have to throw the ball above Kageyama's head."
'If this can only take a while then I don't mind helping them a little bit.'
"Okay. I'll give it a try." Yachi says as she stepped inside the gym.
It didn't go well.
No matter how many times Kageyama tossed to Hinata, it wasn't hit properly. Since Hinata kept his eyes open, there was no spike to hit at all. Like he kept getting distracted by the ball so the toss would be meaningless in the end.
Yachi felt uncomfortable every time the toss wasn't hit properly and how Kageyama's expression shifted into irritation whenever Hinata asked for another toss.
"One more time!"
Kageyama was left out breathless and then he frowned towards Hinata. "Instead of practicing an attack we're not sure you'll be able to do, you should be working on the attacks we've been using as well as serving and blocking!"
"But if this quick doesn't work, there's no point in me being on the court." Hinata replied back quickly.
Kageyama who seemed to be fed up by Hinata's stubbornness, quickly yelled. "And I told you, your will isn't needed for that quick! I'll give you tosses that won't be stopped by blocks - "
"But then I'll never get better!" Hinata yelled louder.
Yachi felt the sting in the air as if the atmosphere had turned cold. She understood that Hinata was struggling to improve his fast quicks and he acknowledged the fact that he had to improve his spike with his eyes open but Kageyama was having trouble in working this out because it was too difficult.
Hinata was desperate at this moment.
Kageyama tries to calm himself and continued with an agitated tone, "The prelims for the spring tournament start next month. They're right around the corner. What do you think will be an effective weapon for us?"
He then walks closer to Hinata and suddenly grabbed his collar. "A complete quick or an absolute useless quick?! Huh?!""
Yachi instinctively call out at this sight of aggression. "L-let's not fight. You have to c-calm down, Kageyama-kun. Hinata too – "
Instead of stopping this altogether, Hinata grabs Kageyama's hand roughly and tries to pull the grip away from his collar. "I want to be strong enough to compete by myself!"
Kageyama had enough of Hinata's words and snapped, "Your selfishness is going to throw off the team's balance!" He shakes Hinata roughly before throwing him off to the ground.
The sound was so loud that Yachi almost screamed. There was nothing but fear and nervousness bubbling up inside Yachi now as she sees the fire before her.
"Stop…L-let's stop now – " Yachi tries to intervene but Kageyama cuts her off and looked down to Hinata who was on the ground, with a seething expression on his face.
"I'll toss to anyone who is essential to winning and I don't feel any different now." Kageyama declared before he turned away to leave the gym.
The hateful words were thrown to Hinata so easily that it made Yachi flinched at the fact that the insult sink deeply to Hinata's feelings.
But Yachi didn't know what to do.
Hinata cursed, getting up from the floor and screamed. "Kageyama!" Then latched on Kageyama stubbornly as he screamed towards the setter, "I won't let you leave until you give me a toss!"
"Damn it, let go!" Kageyama hit Hinata's head and tries to push him away. Kageyama then grabbed Hinata's shoulder and swung him around before dropping him off to the floor with a loud thud that Yachi flinched again.
They're fighting with all their might now.
"Stop it! Both of you stop it!" Yachi screamed with fear from her throat. The boys weren't listening to her and were practically fighting as they throw punches to each other.
When Kageyama was about to land a punch to Hinata's face, Yachi quickly tries to pull his arm from Hinata. "Stop fighting! Both of you, please just stop fighting right now – ah!"
Kageyama pushed Yachi away from him and then throws a pack of punches to Hinata's head as Hinata stubbornly latch on to Kageyama and screamed at him. Yachi was pushed to the ground with a painful fall to the floor and felt the sting on her skin when she felt her knees scratched against the floor.
But she has to stop this fight or else Hinata and Kageyama might end up killing each other!
There was no other choice. With the last thing on her mind, Yachi hurriedly went outside of the gym and called for someone who is near the gym.
Upon seeing Tanaka and Sugawara walking together from the distance, Yachi called their names and hurried towards them, grabbing Tanaka's sleeves and spoke of what happened.
"Please help, senpai! Hinata and Kageyama are fighting in the gym right now!"
"W-what?" Sugawara was shocked.
"They're going to kill each other!" Yachi said desperately.
Tanaka and Sugawara didn't waste their time and ran towards the gym. Upon seeing the two boys fight, Sugawara and Tanaka tries to separate the boys but Kageyama and Hinata kept trying to hit each other.
When Kageyama tries to throw another punch to Hinata, Yachi finally pushed herself between them and crouched into a ball on the floor and screamed with all her might. "STOP!"
Kageyama stopped his tracks abruptly and finally took steps back. Upon seeing Yachi crouching on the floor like that, he was so pissed off that he didn't want to continue anymore.
Kageyama then walked out of the gym with hasty steps before yelling to the air with anger, "Gah!" then leaving the premises quickly.
Sugawara watched the scene ghastly before he runs after Kageyama to talk to him. Tanaka instantly went to Hinata and pulled him off the ground.
"Let's clean the area and go back home. Straight back home, you hear me?" Tanaka spoke sternly to Hinata.
Yachi gently looked up from her position, not realizing there were tears flowing down from her eyes. She gulps down her cries and quickly picked up all the balls from the floor. Hinata nodded to Tanaka obediently before silently cleaning up the area as well.
After they left the gym, Tanaka asked whether Yachi needed to be accompanied on her way back home when Hinata spoke out that he'll accompany her to the bus station.
"Okay. You two head back safely. Don't do anything reckless after this and just…rest up for the night. Message me if you need anything." Tanaka said.
"Yes, senpai." Both Hinata and Yachi replied before watching Tanaka senpai leaving them.
After seeing Tanaka leaving, Yachi turns to Hinata. "L-let's get your bicycle, Hinata."
Hinata nodded, "Hn – oh. Yachi-san. Your knees are bleeding."
When Yachi hears this, she blinked her eyes a few times before she looked down to her knees and gasped.
Her knees were definitely bleeding. It must have happened earlier after Kageyama pushed her. Surprisingly she didn't feel any pain until now.
"I'll go get the first aid kit." Hinata said quickly before he runs to take the box from the gym and hurried back. Since they were still on the stairs before the gym doors, Hinata tells Yachi to sit down.
"I'll treat it so you can sit down." Hinata says as he kneels down on one knee in front of Yachi.
"N-no, it's o-okay. I can do it myself." Yachi says.
Hinata looked up from his position and reached out to grab Yachi's hand. With his large brown eyes staring directly to Yachi's eyes – he spoke again, "Please, Yachi-san." He spoke softly.
Caught off guard by the gesture, Yachi nodded with a flustered face as she lowers herself and sits down on top of the stairs while Hinata kneels on the steps below her while he took out the antibiotic, cotton and bandages.
There were no words spoken between them as Hinata cleans off Yachi's wounds. Though it stings a little, Yachi kept her voice from leaking out and wait patiently as Hinata treated her.
"Does it hurt?" He asked.
Yachi shook her head, "No."
Hinata frowns as he finished applying antibiotic ointment on her and proceed to peel off the bandages before applying it on to her scratched knees. Hinata was so gentle that Yachi felt flustered by this gesture.
Yachi tries to suppress the wild heartbeats in her chest. She knew that he was trying to help her but this gesture of gentleman Hinata is different from the usual upbeat Hinata.
She couldn't help but watch in admiration of the calm Hinata with his face full of seriousness and concentration as he treats her wounds. The way he gently touches her skin without her feeling disgusted by the touch, was charming in a certain way. It seemed like he was used to treating wounds like this to another person.
When Hinata accidentally pressed on too hard on her skin, Yachi unintentionally let out a yelp from her lips.
Hinata's eyes widened and he looked up to Yachi in concern. "Sorry! Did that hurt a lot?"
"It's okay…th-thank you, Hinata-kun."
Hinata nodded before placing the last bandages on her right knee. "I'm sorry." He apologized as he lowered his head in guilt.
"It's not your doing." Yachi replied at the regretful Hinata.
"No…You tried to stop our stupid fight and got hurt instead."
Yachi sighed and shook her head. There was nothing else they could do about the situation from earlier. Yachi then noticed a slight cut on Hinata's cheek.
"Hold still, Hinata-kun."
"Hn?" He looked up and widened his eyes when Yachi leaned her face closer to his.
He felt his heart stopped momentarily when Yachi gently pressed a bandage onto Hinata's cheek. Even though she wasn't doing anything weird, the distance between her face and his was a little too close.
Yachi's soft fingertips lightly touches upon his cheek when she placed the bandage before she pulled back. "There you go. Sorry for that, there was a cut on your skin."
"O-oh. R-right…thank you, Yachi-san."
Yachi nodded before giving a soft smile.
Even during the night time, Yachi's eyes still twinkle beautifully. "Let's go get your bicycle now." She stated.
"Hn." Hinata responded wordlessly.
Yachi proceed to clean up the first aid kit and return it back to the gym, leaving a flushed Hinata behind as he touched his bandaged cheek.
Author's Notes:
Hello everyone!
This was by far the longest chapter for this fanfic haha. The Karasuno finally went back home yay. Also, it was painful to look back at the scenes and watch Kageyama and Hinata fight so brutal like this haha. I even had to take some references from the live stage because the raw emotions were pouring out there and it's just so...painful to watch.
Anyways, speaking of them fighting - I feel so bad for Yachi here. I hope I have enough strength to write the next chapters haha because there are some anticipating characters that most of you are looking forward to hehe.
Sorry for the mistakes you see in this chapter. Was rushing this chapter for some reason but I hope this chapter will do for this week.
I know most of you already replied to who you want Yachi to meet the most but (as a reference for the next chapters lol) I'm curious about who you all want Yachi to end up with and how their relationship turn out. I like reading your thoughts and opinions and headcanons hehehe :3
That's all for this week, I'll see you in the next chapter! Stay safe everyone!
