Hurrah for updating in the wee hours of morning!
Just a quick reminder when you see a * there's a small explanation at the end of the chapter to clear up some confusion~!
Anyhoo~ hope you like the chapter~!
Chapter 3: Equal
Yuzuki fed her ear buds through the line of buttons on her blazer and prepared to test her consciousness. It was the battle of the morning train rush.
Standing behind someone relatively taller than her and seemingly more awake she followed them into the train successfully. Instantly she squirmed around the wall she hid behind and found a nice corner to stand and lean against.
Yosh, safe and undetected. Yuzuki praised herself and swiped-tapped an upbeat song to blast that could wake her enough to last through 1st period. The caffeine in her morning coffee was already starting to lose its effects. Sighing, she fought to keep her eyes open.
Tsukishima tilted his head side to side, cracking his neck to loosen the tenseness from yesterday's practice game. Around him was the usual tightly packed group of people, all being swayed as the train rattled on. He stood in the middle of the train cart and hung onto one of the many grab straps while towering over the vast majority. Occasionally, people would bump into him in some way. Accidently or not, he gave everyone equally unamused glare downs.
Behind his headphones, he heard the next stop being announced. People shuffled around awkwardly and magically Yamaguchi found him and took the grab strap beside his. Yamaguchi yawned consistently and his morning chats followed aimless and whimsical directions. His single odd-standing fringe drooped as he dozed off mid-sentence but still managed to keep a hold on the grab strap.
Tsukishima stared out the train cart window calmly, reciting his schedule for the day silently while occasionally checking on Yamaguchi to make sure he hadn't fallen over and set in motion a domino effect down the train cart. He blinked away the dryness in his own eyes. The practice match from yesterday became way too intense thanks to a certain duo in the team. The thought of how the orange and blue hair duo could still jump and argue with all that energy afterword made him sick. Luckily it was options for first period.
Tsukishima sighed looking around to find a way through the sea of people to the door. When the train stopped again he woke up his friend and cleverly led themselves out the train with few "sorry" or "excuse me" needed to be said. In the corner of his vision, he caught a group of brightly dyed hair and complained internally at it being a sore for the eyes to look at in the morning.
XXX
"Sorry for the inconvenience. Tsukiji-sensei…" Yuzuki apologized as the nurse corrected the schedules.
"It's no problem, but I thought you really liked Tuesday's since you were insistent on getting that day." The nurse commented.
"Well their practices are on that day."
"That's true, they don't send a lot of people the nurse's office which is a good thing for you I guess." She smiled.
"Y-yeah. But it's not a really good thing." Yuzuki muttered to not sound like a slacker and in some degree of honesty.
"But I'll miss seeing you on Tuesdays, you're a great help when the basketball team stumbles in." She handed her back the authorization form. "See you on Thursdays then." The nurse smiled.
Yuzuki bowed and went out with the form happily. Now that this last hurdle was solved everything was even more exciting than before and the anticipation for their facial expressions was even more exhilarating. But that's if she didn't die from the heart attack after running into Yamaguchi the first corner she rounded down the quiet morning hallways.
"G-g-good morning Yuzuki-san…" Yamaguchi gasped. They were both taking a good 5 minutes to settle their pulses down.
"You too… Thank you for waking me up." Yuzuki was just glad she could choke down the scream.
Yuzuki glanced over Yamaguchi's shoulder at the looming Tsukishima with his not so impressed expression over the dramatized commotion.
"Ah. Back to get that checked out?" Yuzuki assumed pointing at the pale band-aid behind the tall boy's glasses.
"No." Tsukishima muttered.
"Ah yeah! Tsukki's still wearing a band-aid underneath his glasses." Yamaguchi laughed.
"I could tell." Yuzuki stated still staring. "Please be careful during practice today."
Feeling irritated Tsukishima walked around the two and sauntered off coldly. His gold eyes noticed the first-aid permission form she hid behind.
"Um, uh I'll talk to you later in sports med!" Yamaguchi stuttered shuffling nervously as his friend left. Yuzuki watched him run to the tall blond, that only he saw appear, like a little puppy again. He's a really good friend isn't he….?
"I'll see you after school Yamaguchi!" She called down the hallway.
"U-um yeah see you later!" He called back, but not without a puzzled expression.
"What's wrong?" Tsukishima asked when Yamaguchi rejoined his side.
"It's nothing, just thought it was a little weird she would say see you after school." Yamaguchi stated.
"She probably means later in the afternoon." Tsukishima answered.
"Heh?"
Yamaguchi gapped a little as he saw what Yuzuki meant in the morning. Again he was left out of the loop on some important news.
"Please take care of me." Yuzuki bowed to the volleyball team after the typical introductions.
"Ha! Ha! The greatness of the Karasuno Volleyball team has increased again! PITY YOURSELVES KAGETORA AND YOUR FEMALE MANAGER-LESS NEKOMA~!" Tanaka proceeded to holler to the ceiling of the gym. Tsukishima standing beside him plugged his ears in dismay.
"Yuzuki-san will be here temporarily to help Yachi-san out when Shimizu is busy with midterms. She'll also be teaching Yachi-san and Shimizu some simple first-aid." Daichi announced.
"If you get a face ball like one of your team mates suffered the other day I will be the go to person." Yuzuki stated blandly holding up a V-sign. Tsukishima barely reacted. "Eventually your current managers will be able do treatment as well. I've been authorized to train them by the school nurse."
A lightning bolt went through Nishinoya and Tanaka at the thought.
"Asahi-senpai, I beg you to send a spike to my face as hard as possible!" Tanaka stated shaking the shocked third year.
"EHH~?!"
"Please hit us your hardest spike!" Nishinoya pleaded.
"B-BUT WHY…?!"
"We… WE WANT TO BE TREATED BY KYOUKO-SAN!" The two knelt and bowed down to the startled third year.
"Hey you guys… quit making weird requests to Asahi…" Sugawara sighed and dragged the two from the floor to the court for practice
"Yata~! We get to stay after school together now! N-not that I didn't like staying with Shimizu-senpai!" Yachi stuttered.
"It's alright. Thank you so much for helping Yuzuki-san." Shimizu bowed to the red-purple color girl.
"N-not at all, I'm benefitting equally since it goes to my training hours." Yuzuki waved off. Yachi wasn't kidding about the third year being so beautiful that it's intimidating….
"Yuzuki-san! You didn't tell me you were joining the volleyball club!" Yamaguchi called running over with a hint of betrayal in his tone.
"Surprised expressions are the best to see." She replied back instantly.
"What about the nurse's office?"
"It's being worked out." She gave a small smile. A long shadow came by.
Yuzuki glanced up to see Tsukishima pass.
He gave her a dismissive look and walked onto the court.
XXX
With a quick glance to the left Tsukishima could tell the next set was for Hinata. He jumped the instant the orange hair living exclamation mark was in the air as well. There was a resounding slap as the volleyball's speed doubled with Hinata's hit and a satisfying pain ran through Tsukishima's left hand as the ball contacted it. With its trajectory thrown off, the volleyball flew to the ground. It was another point for Tsukishima's side, the "Ultimate Defence"* team.
Nishinoya gave Tsukki a hard appreciation slap on the back before returning to position while Yamaguchi gave Tsukki an encouraging smile.
Hinata and Kageyama both wore equally frustrated expression while the rest of the "Ultimate Offense" team tried to calm them down.
"What happened to blowing a spike past my head, King?" Tsukishima taunted behind the net.
"That one was a mistake because Hinata slipped a little while running to the net and made the set 3 seconds too early." Kageyama fought back.
"It's not nice to blame everything on your partner King." Tsukishima sneered.
"Of course not! Even Hinata knows I still put the set a degree too high for him even if he did make it half a second earlier!"
"That's right! Kageyama send me another "Gwuoh!" one or the "Fwaun!'" Hinata shouted.
"It's the 'Gwah!' #2 one that we'll send past Stingyshima!" Kageyama announcing his next attack to the "unsuspecting" defenders.
"Of course!" Hinata yelled back.
"TOGETHER! YOSHA!" They both yelled in unison and fist pumped.
Gross… Tsukishima thought and returned back to position for the next rally.
"Tsukishima-kun has gotten a lot better suddenly hasn't he?" Takeda-sensei commented on the side lines.
"Although he does come off a little blasé about practice, give him a few pointers and he'll absorb it well." Coach Ukai stated crossing his arms.
"It's amazing isn't it?!" Yachi bounced excitedly beside Yuzuki.
"Un…" She stared in mute awe at the court. It was the first time she saw him play so up close.
Sugawara was the next to serve from the Ultimate Defense team.
The serve flowed through perfectly and landed into Ennoshita's arms. The ball flew over to Kageyama.
Tsukishima watched carefully as both Hinata and Asahi started to run up for a spike with Tanaka lagging slightly behind. The instant before the set was made Tsukishima jumped and made a one touch against Tanaka's spike. The ball ricocheted to Nishinoya and soon it was back over to the Offense team side.
Again Tsukishima watched everyone's movement and this time it was a no-brainer. They ball came flying to Hinata and again it was stopped by him. The ball satisfyingly landed back on the offense team's court. The annoyed expression on the King was better than any pat on the shoulder for Tsukishima.
"What's wrong, what happened to all the cheering~?" Tsukishima sneered.
"Hrm~!" Hinata made a weird sound while Kageyama mused angrily to himself.
"The next one will work." Kageyama assured Hinata placing a soft hand on the orange hair.
"But it's as if he knows when you'll hit it to me though!" Hinata whined. "He's totally on a roll today!"
Kageyama looked over to Tsukishima who tilted his chin up and looked down on them calmly
"It's alright this time for sure." Kageyama comforted and gestured for Hinata to run slower.
Just like he had promised, the next spike flew past Tsukishima. The ball grazed past Tsukishima's glasses, moving them causing the edge of his band-aid underneath glasses to shift too. The odd-ball quick strike struck the floor hard.
"YATAA~!" The Kagehina pair shouted together.
Tsukishima tsked quietly and rotated to the back end of the court.
After another couple of rallies the team switched to spike practice with small circular red mats placed in various corners of the court for aiming. The speed of the volleyballs increased. Yuzuki rubbed her tired eyes from all the fast movement.
"HOYA!" Tanaka shouted and sent one slamming to one of the red mats right in front of Yuzuki. There was no more tiredness in her eyes after that spike.
"Nice Tanaka!"
"YOSHA!" And his shirt was off being flung around in a circular motion. Yuzuki started rubbing her eyes again and looked down while Yachi flinched at the sight.
"Hinata! Next!"Kageyama shouted losing no time in practice.
The orange haired boy jumped and the ball went haywire somewhere.
"Another one!" He called again. The ball came close to hitting a target.
"One more time!" The ball came even closer.
"Another!"
Yuzuki watched the ligaments in his shoulder move to match his crazy speed and prayed that he wasn't one who needed a lot of shoulder heat patches for pulled muscles. The nurse's office didn't really stock those up often.
"ANOTHER ONE!"
"Oy, Hinata let the others have another try!" Ukai coach shouted and caught his attention in mid-air.
The ball went haywire and hit red. Yuzuki's head was hit with a surprising amount of force by the tri-colored ball. An angry pulse rose on the red-purple hair.
"BWAHAHA! Wrong target Hinata!" Tanaka shouted.
"Nice 'bulls-eye' Hinata!" Tsukishima laughed and teased loudly.
Even Yamaguchi was snickering behind a hand when Yuzuki looked up again.
That's right this is Volleyball… I was bound to get hit sometime…. Yuzuki's eye twitched. Yachi and Shimizu along with anyone in the sidelines hovered over her. She could still hear Tsukishima laughing in the distance.
Yuzuki swallowed her anger in one breath and brushed the dust off of her hair. An antibacterial shower was scheduled for sure.
Hinata, frozen in an exaggerated gaping expression, received a hard hit on the head from Kageyama.
XXX
"It's alright, just treat me to some ice-cream sometime." Yuzuki told the hovering energy pack called Hinata as they cleaned up.
"Let's go right now then!" Hinata shouted.
"I-it's late though…"
"Tomorrow!"
"That's a little... " Yuzuki touched her head and visible pain shot through her.
"...! I-I'll get you an ice pack!" The orange haired boy blasted off.
Tsukishima smirked at the distress Hinata plunged himself in as a consequence of his 'enthusiasm for practice'. Seeing the troubled frantic expression of Hinata and the dead look of Tanaka after being shot down with a cold glare from Shimizu for laughing made clean up all the more amusing for Tsukishima tonight.
"Tsukki your band-aid is coming off." Yamaguchi commented pointing to the spot between his eyes.
Tsukishima frowned knowing that it came from the scrimmage earlier in practice. The band-aid peeled off even more.
An idea popped into Yamaguchi's head.
"Yuzuki-san! Can you come over a sec? Tsukki's band-aid is falling off!" He called cheerfully.
Yuzuki blessed Yamaguchi inside for giving her the excuse to run away from the excessively clingy orange before he returned. She came over quickly with the first aid kit and made a small mischievous "oh" with her mouth as another opportunity came to mind.
She motioned for Yachi to come over to put her new role in use as an excuse.
"Fresh cuts like these we usually would use this small band-aid to keep it from opening more. These things are good for cuts near the eye especially." Yuzuki explained holding a tiny and hour-glass shaped piece with Yachi and Yamaguchi nodding. Tsukishima scowled bending over. "But since Tsukishima-san's wound is scabbed over already, normal band-aids will work."
With quick familiar hands she opened a new one and placed it over the cut.
"Thank you for being a model Tsukishima-san~" Yuzuki had pulled the sports glasses too far back before Tsukishima could react realizing what she was doing.
The sound of the sports glasses snapping back onto Tsukishima's face resounded through the gym.
"Tsu-Tsu-Tsukki…!" Yamaguchi gasped. Others that saw were in shock.
"Yuzuki-chan why did you do that?!" Yachi exclaimed.
"Cause he was laughing the loudest and longest…" She mumbled pouting. Yamaguchi watched helplessly with enough worry to die from. It didn't go unnoticed by Yuzuki who added to her hypothesis and fueled her bitterness at the same time. "Karma sucks doesn't?" Yuzuki glared up at the tall boy wincing.
Tsukishima rubbed the pain away while the newly placed band-aid stayed in place.
"UO-OH! Yuzuki-san's so brave!" Hinata exclaimed rushing over.
"Yeah! Show that tall stick some attitude—!" Nishinoya added skidding beside her with too much speed.
Unable to stop, the three with 160cm of height toppled over. Tsukishima sneered.
"Yeah karma sucks doesn't it, Yuzuki-san? You're practically a walking TARGET." Tsukishima retorted.
Yuzuki instantly shot up while the other two stood up shakily.
With their height difference, Yuzuki could tilt her chin up threateningly at him while Tsukishima met her with a condescending smile and even glare just by looking down. The angle was perfect.
*Ultimate Defense/Ultimate offense team:It's a practice drill where the team is split into offence only and defense only group to exercise the extremes. So for here, the team splits up where the most defense strong players (ex, Noya, Tsukki, Daichi) were on one side against the ones who were best at offense of the team like Hinata, Kageyama, and Tanaka. Got this after watching one of my friends' volleyball practice xD
Thanks for reaching to the end of the chapter!
Please do let me know what you thought about this chapter! :D
Well, until the next chapter~ Good luck to everyone who are currently crying through midterm season~!
-Vince