Bump. Bump. Bump.
Tsukishima groaned as the bus hit another bump. He cracked an eye open as the sun peered through the window. Tadashi turned to his left to see his best friend waking up, he quickly closed the book that he was reading and slipped it back into his bag.
"Good morning Tsukki!" Tadashi smiled as Tsukishima grunted and sat up straight in his chair looking as the scenery passed by.
"I swear I don't know how Coach Ukai got his license." Tsukishima mumbled pushing off his headphones so they would hang around his neck the music barely audible. Tadashi giggled and blushed at the noise causing Tsukishima to shake his head letting a small smile appear.
"Tsukki be nice. Besides we are almost to the school anyways. This is the school that Karasuno had that rivalry with all those years ago when the old Coach Ukai coached here." Tadashi explained getting excited for the practice match.
"What's the school again?" Tsukishima asked hearing a loud snoring behind them. Both Tadashi and Tsukishima turned seeing the crazy duo sleeping on each other. Tsukishima smirked looking over at his best friend and quickly pulled out his phone taking several photos for later blackmail. Tadashi smiled and shook his head turning back around as the school started to come into view.
"Nekoma. They are called the cats apparently and the rivalry was known as the cats verses the crows. Accordingly to Coach Ukai we have never beat them before." Tadashi said looking up at the roof of the bus.
Tsukishima nodded and turned back to watching the school come into view. Coach Ukai brought the bus to an abrupt stop parking as the team grabbed their gym bags and filed off the bus. The team chattered among themselves and Tsukishima groaned when Hinata and Kageyama ran up to him and Tadashi. Daichi and Sugawara finally climbed off the bus with Coach Ukai following behind them locking the bus up.
"Okay guys, we are visitors here so do not act up. Okay?" Sugawara asked smiling as the rest of team including the captain and coaches felt shivers run down their spines. The team nodded as they followed behind Daichi and Sugawara towards the school. Tsukishima followed in the back trailing behind the rest of the team watching as two figures started walking towards the team. Tsukishima studied as the two figures got closer. One was short with two-toned hair and seemed to have his head buried into either a game or his phone. The other was tall, maybe as tall or even taller than himself. He had wild black hair that seemed to defy all laws of physics and from what Tsukishima could tell he had a mischievous smirk on his face that Tsukishima did not know how he felt about it. Both guys wearing red volleyball uniforms so Tsukishima assumed they were the captains from the Nekoma team they were going to be playing today. As the team got closer to the two players Hinata looked over the other players and Tsukishima seen his face breakout into a huge smile that he could swear the red head's face would split in two.
"Kenma!" Hinata shouted jumping as if he was going to run up to the two players. The two-toned hair player looked up with wide eyes as Kageyama grabbed the back of Hinata's sports jacket stopping him abruptly. "Kageyama that hurts! Put me down!" He groaned as he swung in the air.
"Then maybe you shouldn't be acting like a dumbass and shouting!" Kageyama yelled as he set Hinata on the ground but not letting go of the jacket right away. Tsukishima chuckled causing the two to look back at him.
"Look Tadashi the King is getting jealous of his boyfriend calling out to someone else." Tsukishima smirked looking down at the two who quickly blushed and Kageyama quickly ripped his hand back to himself.
"Shut up Tsukishima!" Hinata yelled as he turned back to the other team as Tadashi started giggling at their reactions and yet neither of them denied anything.
"Hinata. Hello." The shorter of the two greeted putting his game away. Tsukishima watched as Hinata ran to stand next to Kenma and started bouncing on the balls of his feet. Kageyama huffed and walked a little closer as Tadashi and Tsukishima exchanged looks.
"It's so good to see you! You're really on the Nekoma team?" Hinata asked with a shocked expression.
"Uh-huh." Kenma sighed with a blank expression.
"How come you didn't tell me that when we met?"
"Well, you didn't ask." Kenma stated looking at the ground and back to Hinata.
"But when you left you said later so you knew I must have been coming here right?" Hinata asked with a permanent confused look on his face.
"Uh you had Karasuno High School printed on your t-shirt." Kenma shrugged as if it was quite obvious. Tsukishima started toning out the two as they caught up and Kageyama started asking questions and turned towards the captains and the other opponent. Tsukishima felt his breath catch in his throat when he was able to finally take in the taller male. He quickly shook his head and slipped back into his passive expression.
"Hey there! Thank you for coming. My name is Tetosuro Kuroo. I'm Nekoma's captain." The taller male said smiling at the team and holding out his hand to Daichi. Tsukishima toned out the introductions of the two captains as he took in Kuroo. He was shorter than Tsukishima and wore this ridiculous smirk that made his heart do something weird and Tsukishima did not if he liked it or not. Tsukishima quickly looked away when Kuroo looked up at him.
"Come on lets go the match can start as soon as you guys get warmed up." Kuroo stated turning walking towards the gym. Kenma and Hinata turned to follow that was quickly trailed by Kageyama and then the rest of the team. Tadashi slowed his pace and looked at his best friend carefully due to his previous reactions.
"You okay Tsukki?" Tadashi whispered watching his reaction closely.
"Hm. Oh yeah I'm fine." Tsukishima nodded looking anywhere but at his friend or any other eyes.
"What is going on? What is this feeling? Why is my heart acting weird? Is this a heart attack?" Tsukishima thought to himself as he started warming up. He knew he was sounding ridiculous, even to himself.
"Right, so that's why you are blushing and not looking at anyone." Tadashi mumbled getting a glare from Tsukishima. "Sorry Tsukki!" Tadashi yelped too loud causing several eyes to look over at them, one set happened to belong to Nekoma's captain causing Tsukishima to blush again.
"Shut up Tadashi. Really." Tsukishima looking down at the ground as he stretched his arms. Tadashi opened his mouth to say something when Coach Ukai called for them to circle up. Tsukishima stripped his jacket and threw it on his bag and walked pass his friend without saying a word. Tadashi follows suit closely as they all stand listening to the coach give his speech. Tsukishima and the rest of the starting line-up head to the court and the first game of Crows verses Cats gets underway.
After losing three games to Nekoma Tsukishima was ready to get this practice match over with and was ready to hit Hinata when he yelled for another match. When the teams finished getting the gym cleaned and ready to go Tsukishima watched as the two teams interacted. Hinata was jumping and making weird noises with the middle blocker on the opposing team who seemed to act just the same. "Does anyone know what they are even saying?" Tsukishima wondered out loud.
"They don't sound like high schoolers, more like toddlers. But you on the other hand, maybe you should go a little crazy, like a high schooler. Less stoic." A deep voice replied causing Tsukishima to turn towards the voice being met with deep eyes and mischievous smirk. Tsukishima felt his breath catch and his eyes widen slightly before he slipped the mask back on.
"I'm not good at that sort of thing. Not my strong suite." Tsukishima deadpanned to the older teenager as he grabbed the balls and moved to drop them in the cart.
"Ah, youth." Kuroo smiled as Tsukishima wheeled the cart away with colored cheeks. Tsukishima felt his senior's eyes on him so he quickly made his way to his best friend to get to a safer zone and out of eyes sight.
"Tsukki?" Tadashi asked as he watched his friend grabbed his bag and jacket pulling them both on. "You okay?"
Tsukishima nodded as he headed for the gym door and outside to get some fresh air. "What is going on with me?!" Tsukishima thought to himself as he took a deep breath. Tadashi was by his side in an instant.
"Tsukki whats going on? What did Nekoma's captain say to you?" Tadashi demanded looking at his friend with worry and frustration.
"Nothing. Just said I need to loosen up and act more like Hinata basically." Tsukishima stated looking over at Tadashi.
"Tsukki. Can I ask you something?" Tadashi asked knowing he's going to be asking something personal.
"Yeah?"
"Do you like Kuroo?" Tadashi whispered wanting to keep the conversation private. I
"I don't even know the guy."
"You know what I mean. You are acting weird. I've never seen you act like this before or seen you blush before." Tadashi pressed on.
"I…I don't know… But there's something about that guy and it does something weird to my head and my chest." Tsukishima admitted looking down at his feet.
"Tsukki…" Tadashi started when the two teams started filing out of the gym quickly shutting Tadashi up quickly. They drifted in line with the rest of the teams as Hinata continued to have too much energy for Tsukishima to handle after three games and the confusing thoughts in his head about the other team's captain. Tadashi bumped Tsukishima with his elbow tilting his head towards Hinata and Kenma. Tsukishima glanced at the two and then back to Tadashi again. "Look who is stalking our little decoy." He whispered. Tsukishima looked back at the two and then seen a dark figure closing in on the two. Kageyama stuck close to Hinata and as soon as Coach Ukai unlocked the bus and had the door open kageyama quickly pulled Hinata towards the doors as Hinata fought back waving good-bye to Kenma. Tsukishima shook his head at the two as the teams started saying their goodbyes.
"Nice games. We won't lose next time we see you." Daichi said gripping Kuroo's hand with a fake smile plastered on his face. Tsukishima looked at Kuroo who had the same expression and he rolled his eyes. He walked towards the bus and chanced a glance back at Kuroo and caught his eye. Kuroo smirked and winked at him causing Tsukishima to blush and quickly rush on the bus.
Once Tadashi and Tsukishima were in their seats and the bus was on its way back to their hometown did Tsukishima realize he was holding his breath. He let the breath out and sighed. "I knew it." Tadashi mumbled and looked at his best friend. "You got a crush Tsukki." Tadashi whispered to his best friend who would much rather ignore the feelings. "By the way he was definitely checking you out while you were playing and cleaning up." Tadashi stated as he pulled out his headphones and started playing some music. Tsukishima blushed and looked out the window watching the scenery go by as his mind drifted back to a certain crazy hair team captain he just met.