Hello all, here's chapter thirteen. This is part two of the "team talk" scene, and it's another long one. I hope you enjoy :)

Lunar Eclipse

Chapter Thirteen

The Karasuno boys volleyball team waited anxiously for their teammates to come back from their talk. With Sugawara and Daichi outside, Yamaguchi holed up in the club room, Ukai trying to get through to him near the far side of the gym, and Kiyoko and Yachi hugging each other tightly and crying, the rest of the team felt lost. They were caught between several emotional extremes, between people who had their hands so full handling themselves that they didn't have the ability to guide the rest. How were they supposed to deal with tragedy without the guidance of either their captain or their coach? Left to their own devices, the team talked among themselves.

"Guys, we need to talk about this." Ennoshita finally said after a long silence, looking around at the sullen faces of his teammates, "We can't let it break us. Come on, we're a strong team. We're gonna be okay."

Kageyama was furious. He couldn't explain why, but just hearing how optimistic Ennoshita was made him want to punch something. They were not the same team. One of their starting players was out of commission, how could they ever be ready for nationals now? Kageyama felt like he had been standing in the sunlight, its fulfilling warmth spreading itself over his entire body. He reached for that sun every day - every time he set another ball he extended his reach just another millimeter. Every time he played volleyball, he was that much closer to his dream - to winning nationals and becoming the best. As the news of Tsukishima's injury reached his ears it was like that sun had been blotted out by the moon, his teammate's tragedy clouding over his goals in a solar eclipse.

"We were a strong team."

"Kageyama, what are you talking about? Of course we're still strong!" Hinata countered.

It made him angry. In a way, he thought he might have been angry with Tsukishima. Logic told him that the situation wasn't actually Tsukishima's fault, but it didn't matter. It was his injury that was holding the team back from their collective goal, the goal they'd all been working so hard to obtain. Kageyama hated the fact that Tsukishima seemed to be the only one on the team who didn't care enough to work for that goal, and now he would be the one who would hold them back from it. As much as Kageyama hated the idea, they couldn't win without Tsukishima.

"We can't win without Tsukishima! We don't have anyone else who can read block!"

"That's what you're worried about!? Nationals? Kageyama, this is bigger than Nationals!" Tanaka shouted, using every bit of control he had not to physically confront his teammate on the spot.

"Kageyama, I care about Nationals like everyone else," Narita said, "but we can't change what happened."

Tsukishima might have been a good enough volleyball player to be a starter, but that didn't take away from the fact that the kid was an ass. He had no regard for anyone's feelings, even Yamaguchi's, and bullied Kageyama almost to no end. Tsukishima knew exactly how much his "King of the Court" moniker bothered him, so he purposefully went out of his way to drive the stake further, belittling Kageyama every chance he got. He was constantly calling him and Hinata idiots, and seemed to stand resolute against making any sort of friends on the team whatsoever. This jackass who was a constant burden to anyone he ever talked to, who didn't care about the team or about volleyball, was somehow the key to achieving their ultimate goal.

Why couldn't the rest of the team see that? They didn't have anyone else on the team who could read block as well as Tsukishima could. Nobody else had that intelligence, that attention to detail - talents that Kageyama was reluctant to attribute to someone with as foul an attitude as Tsukishima. There was no way they could train someone else to make up for that difference in the short amount of time they had between now and Nationals.

"We can't control what happens with Tsukishima! We can control Nationals. We need to have a plan or we're sunk!"

"I get you and Tsukishima never got along, but where the hell is this coming from?" Nishinoya shouted, getting to his feet and pinning Kageyama by the collar. Kageyama took Nishinoya's hands and tore them away from his shirt.

"We're gonna lose the dream we've all been working for! How could you not care about that!?"

Still... he didn't think he hated Tsukishima, not completely anyway. Sure, the blocker's attitude toward volleyball and other people infuriated him, but Kageyama never wanted him dead. He struggled often with the idea that in order for the team to be the best it could be - to be ready for Nationals - he and Tsukishima needed to get along. After wrestling with the idea for weeks, he'd figured that Tsukishima's business was his business alone, and that he needed to just focus on his volleyball skill.

And it sort of worked. Kageyama treated him like any other player, and once Tsukishima had his moment, once he blocked Ushijima and showed some semblance of excitement for the first time, they began to tolerate each other. Sure, they still didn't work very well together; Tsukishima didn't spike very often, and Kageyama had never trained to match him, but once when he swallowed his pride and followed Tsukishima's lead when blocking a spike... it worked. It was hard for Kageyama to really wrap his head around, but after that moment in the Shiratorizawa game, Tsukishima didn't seem quite as hostile. It made it that much worse that they wouldn't have him for Nationals.

The pain of losing his chance at Nationals weighed heavily on Kageyama's mind, clouding his judgement. Volleyball was all he ever wanted. It was the only thing that got him out of bed in the morning, the only thing that could convince him to go to sleep at night. He ate, slept, and breathed volleyball. It was his life. His mind struggled with who he should blame for his lost chance. Intellectually, he knew that the blame should be put on no one other than the shooter himself, because it was his poor decision that led to Kageyama's present situation. However, his heart wouldn't accept an answer like that. Like a ravenous beast, it demanded emotional compensation. Like a wounded animal, it lashed out, uncaring of who it destroyed in the process. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Kageyama realized he was being very selfish.

"So what, you wanted Sugawara to get shot instead!?" Nishinoya shot back.

"Tsukishima's a starter! We - "

Kageyama stopped talking when he saw his teammates' stupefied faces surrounding him. He didn't even have time to process what their expressions meant before he heard the unmistakable voice of Coach Ukai crossing the gym, probably to scold them for being so loud - or so he thought.

"Kageyama!"

Coach sounded furious. He wasn't 'Kageyama and Nishinoya were too loud again' angry, he was 'Kageyama has done something very unforgivable' angry. It was in seeing his coach's face that the fear started to set in.

"Coach?"

"Tell me I didn't just hear you say Tsukishima's life is worth more than Sugawara's because he's a starter."

No. The correct answer to Nishinoya's question was no. It was in that moment that his mind was flooded with realization. He never wanted anyone dead! He had been so focused on his anger over Nationals that he hadn't stopped to think before he spoke. Again.

"Coach, I - "

"I'm kicking you off my team. Leave my gym."

Off... the team? The world shattered before Kageyama's eyes. For a moment, he could almost feel his heart stop cold in his chest. His coach's words didn't register in his mind as a cohesive thought until seconds after he said them. In his peripheral vision, Kageyama could see the rest of his team display a myriad of emotions, all ranging from reluctantly justified to absolutely horrified. Once his mind registered his coach's words he fell into a blind panic. He couldn't lose volleyball! Volleyball meant everything to him!

"Coach, no, please! I didn't mean it like that!"

Ukai took a long hard look at the teenager standing in front of him. Kageyama had a history of not being able to communicate his emotions and speaking before thinking, but he didn't think even Kageyama would take it this far. Still, he never took the impulsive teen as the type to actively wish harm on his teammates. He thought for a minute about what sort of punishment he could inflict. Kageyama's anger tended to be very physical, so he needed a physical punishment to get him to let out his negativity. Letting his own anger settle from a boil to a dull simmer, Ukai shut his eyes and sighed.

"Fine. Come with me."

Opening his eyes again, he led Kageyama to the back of the gym, to a door to an old storage closet. He took out a set of keys and unlocked said closet, revealing a plethora of old gym equipment that looked like it had seen better days. With a sharp grunt, Ukai dragged an old pull-up bar from the refuse. He turned to Kageyama.

"Go. Until I say stop. Or until you puke. I don't care which." Kageyama swallowed hard, reached up, and grabbed the bar.

Yamaguchi couldn't stop crying. He felt like he was floating, drowning, lost at sea without a raft. Everything in his mind seemed to be tumbling out of control - it was like trying to play 'don't let the balloon touch the floor' in an avalanche. His tears flooded his face as he struggled to breathe through them. He was glad there was nobody in the club room to try to console him, because he was certain he couldn't talk to them anyway. He was crying so vehemently that he found himself hiccuping, unable to catch his breath.

After storming from the team meeting, Yamaguchi threw the door closed behind him, not caring how loud the resulting slam would be. He was hardly inside the room before he collapsed onto the mat underneath his feet. He hadn't been there for very long before he heard Coach Ukai's voice from the other side of the door, presumably because he'd followed him. He appreciated the coach's concern, but the last thing he wanted was another person to see him broken like this. As politely as he could, he told his coach to leave him alone.

Ukai wasn't about to give up easily, though. He'd continued to insist that he help Yamaguchi in some way, that is before some business with the team dragged him away from his post in front of the club room door. Yamaguchi didn't care what it was. He was just glad he was alone.

Once his thoughts began to settle in his head again, he started to shake, huddled over himself, the mat's texture pressing into the skin on his bare arms. His breathing was sharp and quick. He tried to voice his thoughts, to somehow release the shock and grief pent up inside him, but he couldn't seem to get the words out.

"Tsukki is..." he gasped, "T-Tsukki is..."

Tsukki is dying, he finished in his thoughts. Tsukki. His Tsukki. The club room blurred into black as fear overtook his vision. He screwed his eyes shut and blindly reached out beside him, looking for anything he could fit in his hands. He quickly found an abandoned sweatshirt on a lower shelf and pulled it toward himself, squeezing it in his grip, a futile attempt to release the emotional tension that fueled his tremors.

You could lose him, a tiny whispering voice in his head told him. He could die. You could lose him.

What would he do if he lost Tsukki? Sure, he was friends with the rest of the team, at least on a casual basis, but none of them knew him like Tsukki did. Tsukki was his closest friend. He'd saved Yamaguchi time and time again - whether it was from bullies or his own inner demons, Tsukki always knew exactly what to say to make Yamaguchi feel better, even if it sounded harsh and critical to the others. Tsukki was his rock, the pillar that kept him stable. If Yamaguchi lost him, his life would lose meaning.

The thought that he'd have to brave the world on his own, without Tsukki's constancy and strength, terrified him. As his fear surged he lifted himself from the floor and threw the sweatshirt across the room. It hit the floor with a less-than-satisfying fwump. He needed something else to release the tension. Something heavier. He looked quickly around the room and spotted a large cardboard box a shelf higher than the one where he found the sweatshirt. Without thinking, he grabbed its edges and pulled it onto the floor, spilling a mountain of stainless steel water bottles with a loud crash, yelling as he did so. Then, suddenly drained of energy, he fell to the floor, sobbing once again into the mat under his feet.

When Sugawara and Daichi returned to the gym after their talk outside, the first thing they noticed was Kageyama doing pull-ups near the far wall. Ukai stood beside the bar, looking on with the angriest expression either had ever seen his coach make, and Kageyama looked like he was wearing out fast. Sweat covered his forehead and dripped from his brow as he continuously pulled himself up to the bar. Sugawara and Daichi watched as the muscles in Kageyama's neck and arms strained as he struggled to pull himself up each time.

"Coach looks furious. I wonder what Kageyama did." Sugawara wondered aloud as he and Daichi stood by the gym's entrance.

"Who knows? It had to have been pretty bad for coach to make him do pull-ups in the middle of the night like this." Daichi replied.

Almost immediately after Daichi had spoken, Kageyama lost his grip on the pull-up bar. He collapsed, hitting the wooden floor with a muffled thud. He tried to push himself onto his hands and knees, but his arms wobbled and he fell forward. Ukai, still scowling, took a few steps closer to Kageyama, reached out, and seized his arm. With Ukai's help, Kageyama got to his feet. Sugawara and Daichi could barely make out their coach's voice as he scolded their teammate.

"I don't think I need to ask if you've learned your lesson."

Kageyama was too exhausted to properly vocalize his answer. His arms felt like jelly, and he was breathing hard. Ukai released Kageyama's arm as he lowered himself into a deep bow of apology to make up for his lack of voice.

"...Good. Go back to the team."

However, before Kageyama could move they heard a loud crash come from the club room. As worried expressions rippled through the gym, everyone rushed to see Yamaguchi.

Sugawara reached the club room door first. He opened the door to find Yamaguchi sobbing on the floor surrounded by an overturned cardboard box and thirty or so water bottles.

"Yamaguchi..."

Yamaguchi sat up and turned to the doorway at the sound of his teammate's voice. Sugawara stared silently at Yamaguchi's disheveled appearance, feeling a strange mixture of horrified and guilty. It never ceased to baffle and sadden him to see how his own failures could cause the people around him such pain. Yamaguchi's eyes were moist and bloodshot, his hair a mess. For a fraction of a second, Sugawara could see a sort of detachment in Yamaguchi's face, an emptiness, as if by crying he had bled himself dry. However, he watched as his friend slowly came into realization. He watched Yamaguchi's blank expression evolve into one of furious recognition. He pushed himself to his feet and rushed Sugawara, taking him by the collar of his shirt and swinging him into a shelf. The shelf fell against the wall, knocking several objects onto the floor with a loud crash.

"You did this! This is your fault!" Yamaguchi screamed as he stared into Sugawara's fear-filled eyes.

"Yamaguchi, I - "

"Why didn't you protect him!?" the furious teen shouted as he shook Sugawara savagely by his shirt, "I'd have risked my life to make sure he was safe! Why didn't you? Don't you care!?"

By this point the rest of the team had caught up to the doorway, watching wide-eyed and terrified as one of the meekest players on their team snapped at their vice-captain. Daichi soon pushed his way to the front of the team, and entered the club room after the arguing pair. Storming in through the door, the captain grabbed Yamaguchi by the back of his shirt and yanked him away from Sugawara. Tanaka pushed through as well and helped Daichi by prying Yamaguchi's hands from Sugawara's collar.

"Hey, dude, calm down!" Tanaka shouted as he tried to wrench his vice captain free from the pinch server's grip.

"Yamaguchi, stop!" Daichi bellowed, spinning the first year around so that they were facing each other, and locked his gaze with his teammate's, "This is not Sugawara's fault, and you know it!"

If Yamaguchi heard, he gave no indication. Without acknowledging Daichi's comment, he shouted and spun himself back around, lunging again for Sugawara and very nearly tearing himself from Daichi's grip in the process. Upon seeing his captain almost lose his hold on Yamaguchi, Tanaka joined in holding him back.

"Yamaguchi, get a hold of yourself!"

Yamaguchi wrestled his right arm free of Tanaka and Daichi's grip and reached for one of the steel water bottles at his feet. Taking it into his hand he launched it at Sugawara's face with all his strength. The bottle landed a direct hit, square into Sugawara's nose before clattering onto the floor. Sugawara's hands flew to his face as Asahi and Nishinoya pushed through the group to make sure he was okay.

As soon as the bottle left Yamaguchi's hand, Daichi, in a burst of strength, took the front of Yamaguchi's shirt in both his hands and shoved him against the wall near the door. The first year's head hit the wall with a loud thud, sending him into a daze.

"I said stop." Daichi whispered, completely deadpan. He turned his attention to Tanaka.

"Hold him."

Daichi crossed the room to the shelf on the opposite wall. He took a volleyball from a wire bin in the corner of the room and returned to Yamaguchi, shoving the ball into his teammate's stomach.

"Come on."

He turned toward the door. Yamaguchi, who had somewhat recovered himself, called after him.

"... What are we doing?" He asked, still in a bit of a daze. Daichi stopped at the door. He spoke without looking back.

"The one thing that brings us together. We're playing volleyball." Daichi left the club room, leaving the rest of the gym speechless.

The game was atrocious. It lasted less than a half an hour, and no one played even close to their full potential. Kageyama was exhausted, throwing his and Hinata's quick out of sync. Tsukishima wasn't there to coordinate the blockers, so nobody on the front line could get their timing right to block any of Karasuno's stronger spikers. Asahi was more of an emotional wreck than usual, and only made a handful of balls over the net the whole game. Yamaguchi stepped in to pinch serve once or twice, and had to be coaxed into actually serving the ball, his anguish over Tsukishima's situation throwing his entire mental state off balance. Sugawara couldn't even join the game until ten minutes after it started. Yamaguchi's stunt with the water bottle had given the setter a bloody nose, and it took him several minutes until it stopped bleeding and Takeda-sensei cleared him to play. Even then, he was too exhausted and emotionally spent to play well. He couldn't time his sets properly, and missed the ball more often than not.

The game dragged on, and both sides became increasingly more frustrated. Neither side played nearly as well as they had in the game against Shiratorizawa, and the idea that they had taken so many steps backward infuriated them. It was clear to everyone on the court that the team was about to break. Most of them looked to be moments away from snapping at their teammates - even Hinata stomped off in the other direction each time he missed one of Kageyama's tosses. It took all Nishinoya had in him to keep from simply turning around and yelling at someone every time he missed a receive. Tsukishima's accident and its aftermath had gone off like a bomb in Karasuno's faces, leaving a massive amount of collateral damage in its wake.

Finally, near the end of the game, Hinata made a spike. It wasn't a ground-breaking one, but the timing was right, the follow-through was smooth, and for that one moment, his and Kageyama's timing synced up.

"H-hey! Kageyama, we did it!" Kageyama scoffed and turned away from him, his face turning red.

"O-Of course we did, dumbass."

For a moment Hinata simply stared at the setter, a wide, bright smile on his face. Then, after a couple seconds, he began to laugh. Kageyama turned to his friend, his face going from shy to angry.

"W-what are you doing, Hinata!?"

But Hinata didn't answer. Slowly, the rest of the team began to laugh with them. Even Kiyoko, Yachi, and Takeda had started to giggle. After laughing joyously for a solid five minutes, they began to play once more. They played much better this time. Granted, it was still approaching five in the morning and they were still exhausted, but Hinata's moment of exuberance had reconnected them - they were a team again.

The last few minutes of the game went on in that manner, with the team slowly picking up the pieces, and putting themselves back together. As bone-tired as they were, the Karasuno players began to meld again, letting Hinata's innocence pervade them and bring them closer together. However, it was a game they would never finish. Just as they had gotten the hang of playing as a team again, Ukai's cell phone rang.

Everyone on the court stopped cold when they heard the high-pitched tone. The ball hit the floor and bounced around the gym, slowly coming to a stop in a corner near the equipment closet. The team watched intently as Ukai fished the phone from his pocket and answered it.

"Amaya? What's - "

"Ukai, thank god you picked up. I called my husband four times and he never answered and - "

"Woah, woah, woah! Amaya, calm down. What happened?"

Amaya was hysterical. She was crying and sniveling, barely coherent. Ukai feared the worst, and found himself totally unprepared for what Amaya was about to tell him.

"He's dead, Ukai! My little baby's dead!"

I hope you enjoyed chapter thirteen. Constructive criticism is always welcome.