Haikyuu!
Higher
Chapter 37: Summer

"Aika!"

A bolt of orange practically leapt into her arms, Hinata practically burying himself in her neck. She couldn't help the laughter as she hugged him back, her crutches dropping to the floor, keeping her closest friend close to her as she ran a hand through his fluffy, bright hair. Kenma watched the two with a gentle smile on his face.

"I missed you, too, Shoyo. I'm glad you're here."

Her sunshine pulled away from her, but helped keep her upright with a hand still holding her waist. "You're walking now! That's so good! You'll be better in no time at all!" He beamed, his smile as bright as the sun that he was named for. He nuzzled himself even further into her side, contentment on his face as he held the girl he had so much affection for even closer.

As she gently rubbed Hinata's back, Aika looked over at her Karasuno - her team - with a smile that hadn't been on her face the last time they saw her. "I'm really glad you guys are here," she said, allowing Hinata to hold her up.

Meanwhile, Hinata's eyes sparkled as he stared at the area around the Shinzen campus. "Hey, hey, where's Skytree?!" he demanded, his eyes searching for the iconic building. His eyes fixed on a transmission tower, and he pointed to it excitedly. "Is that the Tokyo Tower?!"

Aika laughed softly as Kenma softly pried Hinata away from her, handing her the crutches she'd dropped. "No, that's just… a regular transmission tower. You know, for radio and stuff," he replied, sounding confused.

"Ai, do you guys not have transmission towers in Miyagi?" Kuroo teased from behind her.

Sawamura, who stood next to the Nekoma captain, frowned. "They all look like the Tokyo Tower to us! Our towers aren't red like you Tokyo peoples' are!" he shot back, his voice distressed as he walked forwards with his team.

Sighing at his captain's competitive relationship with Kuroo - even over something as simple as the transmission towers - Sugawara had his own frown on his face. "You do realize that's not a good thing to say, right? Plus, you know we're in Saitama, don't you?" he asked dryly.

"It's true, though," Aika added, turning to see the rest of her boys walking forwards. Upon seeing them, her heart skipped a beat - but not for the reason that she expected. Tearing her gaze away from them, she grinned cheekily at Kuroo instead. "Tokyo is just too flashy for us. It's like you guys have something to prove."

Kuroo simply glared at her. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, Ai."

She laughed and turned towards Karasuno once more, although not before kicking him in the shin with her good leg, causing him to yelp in pain. He hopped up and down a bit, grimacing as Sawamura snickered at him.

Meanwhile, Aika's brown eyes locked with Kageyama's tired, dark blue eyes. Immediately losing all of the tiredness in his eyes, he bounded forwards, past Sawamura and the rest of his team, a small blush coming over his face.

"Aika… you're walking," he said, looking her up and down. "You're still small, though."

Her cheeks puffed up like a cute squirrel, a pout on her face. He felt himself blush even more at her expressiveness. "I grew a centimeter," she mumbled, pursing her lips.

He couldn't help a small chuckle at her cute behavior.

Now that he knew that he liked her - and that he had a chance - it was so much harder to tell his body to fight his natural instincts to blush.

Sugawara watched as the two first years reunited, the small smiles and soft words they shared between themselves. He watched as Aika shyly tucked her hair behind her ear after Kageyama pointed out it was getting longer now, and he watched as Kageyama blushed when Aika said something about him seeming a bit more mature, even if it'd only been a few weeks.

He couldn't help the sad smile that formed on his face, seeing how sincere her smile was after only a few weeks after his rejection. She seemed like she'd been recovering well, and was happy where she was now.

"You know, Aika told me I was being a hypocrite last time you guys were here." Surprised at the sudden voice, Sugawara turned around to see Kuroo staring at him with crossed arms and a blank face. "She told me that no one would blame me for loving someone. And that I should just suck it up and tell the person I love that I love them," he said softly.

Sugawara bit his lip and turned away, back facing to Aika and Kageyama, uneasy about the Nekoma captain's words. "I don't love her," was the only response he could form, but even then, it sounded weak, even to himself.

"That's a lie and we both know it."

He shifted again, his hands curling into fists. "No… I really don't love her. I like her, but it's not…"

"Love?" Kuroo moved right next to Sugawara and quirked an eyebrow, glancing down at the setter in disbelief. "Love is love, whether it's puppy love or true love, right? And if you feel that way about Aika, I'm just trying to warn you that if you don't tell her, she'll never know. She's kind of dumb like that." He chuckled, running a hand through his giant hair. "She can pinpoint anyone else's feelings, but when it comes to feelings about her, she's as oblivious as one can get. Some kind of fool she is, huh?"

With that, Kuroo pushed past Sugawara, leaving the Karasuno third year behind as he walked towards the stairs leading to the school.

"Ah." He turned his head lazily to aim a dark glare at Sugawara. "You're the one who made her cry last time you were here. So don't expect any mercy from any of Nekoma this time," he drawled threateningly, his lazy smile suddenly looking much more sinister.

Sugawara shivered a bit.

The first match of the day was against Fukurodani.

Aika, proudly clad in her black Karasuno jacket, sat on the bench with Ukai, who was more than happy to welcome her back to his side as his assistant. She held her familiar notebook in her hand as she watched the match begin.

The first point went in Fukurodani's favor as Kageyama - surprisingly - failed his first set.

It was too short for Hinata, and it fell to the ground right between the two players. Kageyama, red with embarrassment, tried to brush it off, despite the teasing from both Tanaka and Noya. He chanced a look over at Aika, who was giggling softly.

As he caught her eye, she smiled. "Don't mind," she said, waving her hand. "You guys will get it next time."

His entire body filled with reassurance at her words, and he nodded. "Right!" he practically shouted, bowing to her. When he stood, moving towards his original position on the court, he was unable to ignore the feeling of pure giddiness in his stomach and the quickening pace of his heartbeat.

He was sure his face was red, too.

The next time he tossed for Hinata, it went too far. Immediately, Kageyama swore internally as he realized that Hinata wasn't going to be able to hit it at all. It was going to sail past his head before it dropped.

Shoot! He's going to panic and-

Hinata didn't panic.

Instead, he reached out with his left hand, hitting it with his bottom of his palm, and somehow managing to get it over the net, even if it was just barely. The ball dropped to Fukurodani's side of the court.

Kageyama could only watch in amazement, both boys staring at each other in shock and realization that something had changed.

The next surprise was a jump serve from Asahi, who leaped and served with all the power in his arsenal. It wasn't much of a surprise that it went out, but the fact that it went over the net was a relief to most. But Asahi wasn't pleased.

A failed synchronized attack was the next of Karasuno's new moves - Sugawara's set was fine, but it was out of rhythm with his spikers, Sawamura, Asahi, and Tanaka. Lots of yells of "sorry" and "don't mind" were echoing on their side of the court in specific.

As for Nishinoya's tosses, his enthusiasm got the best of him, and he jumped too far forwards to properly set the ball.

Kageyama couldn't help his own laughter as Aika laughed at the brutal teasing Nishinoya was receiving. He didn't notice how her gaze was softer as she stared at the boys she had grown to have so much affection for, but he did hear something else.

"You've all grown so much," she murmured, hastily writing down notes in her book. "I'm so proud of you all."

He looked over to her, his eyes settling on the upward curve of her lips, one that he found that he wanted to memorize. He could feel something swelling in his chest, something that wasn't the heat he usually felt at seeing her smile. It was more like pure, unadulterated affection for the girl who sat on the bench near him, watching them grow and change as people and as athletes.

She should always be smiling, he thought. I'll make sure she's always happy.

Karasuno lost to Fukurodani, but that wasn't much of a surprise.

"So, what do you think?" Ukai asked as the boys did their sprints, the two watching over them as Shinzen and Ubugawa began to move onto the court for their match against each other. "We've done a lot of work in just a short amount of time."

"And you've come so far," she admitted, pulling her hair into a ponytail as flipped the pages of her notes. "You guys are like a puzzle, really. But there's one piece that isn't quite fitting."

Her eyes landed on the page labeled "Tsukishima, middle blocker" and narrowed. Ukai looked over her shoulder.

"Tsukishima, huh?"

Aika nodded. "Yeah. It's like he's not… really there, you know?" She bit her lip, not wanting to really speak ill of Tsukishima. "He works hard in his own way, but… I think he's like me," she admitted.

The coach looked over to her, surprised by her admission. "How so?" he asked curiously.

"I think it's a personal trauma that's affecting him so negatively. It's probably stemming from an incident in the past involving volleyball, something that made him lose his faith in the game. After all," she paused, wondering how to word it. "After all, it's just a game to him. Why should he put an effort into something that won't give anything back to him in the end?"

Ukai frowned. Her words made sense for someone like Tsukishima, who consistently said that Karasuno was "just a club." But that didn't mean he had to like it.

"I'm not saying that I'm right," she continued. "I'm just saying that… maybe we give him his own time. He'll come around."

"What do you mean by that?"

She snickered, looking over at the fierce match between Shinzen and Ubugawa, serve and block against synchronized attacks.

"I just mean that there's really no way he's going to come out of this camp the same person. You can't be stuck with all these people, all of whom love the sport with all of their hearts, and not find yourself feeling the same way."

Especially not with the boys of Nekoma in particular. They won't let him get away that easily.

The sun set on the first day of training camp with Karasuno having lost all of their games.

All twelve of the boys were understandably exhausted, but they all wanted to go do their own thing, continue practicing until they dropped. Every single one of them were raring to go, eager to see where their new skills would evolve.

Everyone but one.

Despite his angst and irritation, Tsukishima was unwittingly dragged into practice with the irritating cat captain and the weird owl whose laugh was just a bit too loud.

He wasn't happy about it though.

"Tetsu, I need some help with my leg… ah, you guys are still practicing?"

The boys turned in surprise to see Aika in her wheelchair again, her leg out of its cast, which was sitting on her lap. She rolled inside, humming as she examined the group of boys, one of whom was lying on the floor, surrounded by balls, absolutely exhausted. Choosing to ignore the unmoving form that once was Lev, she turned her gaze towards Tsukishima.

"Tsukishima, I didn't expect to see you here," she said, rolling to a stop in front of him.

Huffing, he crossed his arms and looked away from him. "I wasn't exactly given a choice," he practically spat, aiming a glare at Kuroo, who was only grinning that shit-eating grin from ear to ear.

Aika's response was to chuckle a bit. "Well, looks like Tetsu got you with his provocation, didn't he?" she asked in a melodic tone, one that was so soft and light that Tsukishima was surprised that it came from her.

"I did no such thing!" Kuroo denied, although he didn't exactly sound like he was eager to fight her accusations.

Sighing, the girl wheeled herself towards the sidelines of the court. "So, you guys are practicing blocking against poor Bokuto, are you?" she asked, pulling a notebook from a bag that hung on the back of her chair. "Just go easy on him, Tetsu. You know how he gets when he gets blocked too many times."

Bokuto practically shouted, "Aika!" in a tone that said he wasn't exactly excited about what she'd said.

"She isn't wrong though, Bokuto," Akaashi added dryly.

"Akaashi, not you, too!"

Tsukishima watched as she bantered with the boys from both Nekoma and Fukurodani, his eyes fixed on how comfortable she looked. It wasn't until after she left Karasuno that she'd become so open with other people.

Ah… even she's changed.

"By the way, four eyes," Bokuto began, crossing his arms as he turned back to Tsukishima, "you're real good at reading spikes."

"Don't change the subject, Bokuto," Akaashi said from beside the spiker, but was ignored.

"But your blocks are real weak! I'm scared I'm gonna break your skinny arms if I hit too hard!" The loud owl was crowing too much. "You gotta block like you mean it! Like with all the strength you've got!"

"I'm still growing, you know," Tsukishima shot back, puffing himself up to stand even above Bokuto's ridiculously spiked hair. "I'll be taller and more muscular in no time."

Kuroo snickered from the side. "Keep talking like that, and the shrimp's gonna outshine you as a blocker."

Tsukishima froze.

As if he hasn't already.

He wasn't surprised that others had noticed. After all, Hinata was the one that everyone watched. He was the one who shone the brightest, so brightly that all anyone - opponents and audience alike - could see.

And who was he?

He was Tsukishima. He was the opposite of Hinata.

"Tsukishima…"

He stalked out of the gym as the rest of the Nekoma team came in, their loud chatter almost immediately irritating him. He watched as their libero, Yaku, stood next to Aika and started yelling at Lev (who was, most decidedly, not dead).

He didn't notice Aika staring after him.

"That wasn't very nice, Tetsu."

The captain shrugged. "I didn't think it'd work out the way it did. I really thought he was one of those guys who always thought himself better than everyone around him," he admitted.

Aika hummed as he wheeled her back to where she was sleeping. "I mean, you're not wrong. Tsukishima thinks himself superior to Hinata in nearly everything. Volleyball… that's the one exception."

"Why so?" asked Kuroo, sounding somewhat interested in Aika's observations, although he knew she'd tell him even without him having to ask.

She looked up at him. "Because he doesn't really think himself to be talented or hard-working in this one thing. He doesn't have passion for it, so he doesn't feel like he could ever be superior to anyone in that regard."

Kuroo hummed. "Reminds me of you. Back when we were kids."

"Yeah. But not me now, I hope."

"You found what you loved about the sport. That's what changed."

Aika paused, realizing that Kuroo was right. She'd only fallen in love with volleyball when she'd found her calling as a setter and a playmaker. She'd always loved a mental challenge, and that's just what being the setter was.

Maybe… maybe that's what Tsukishima needs, too. To fall in love with volleyball.

Author's Note
I won't make excuses for not updating for a little over 8 months. That'd be rude to you all.
I'm very sorry about disappearing like I did. Some personal things happened, and they took a massive toll on me.
To be honest, finding the inspiration to write has been difficult as of late.
I wanted to finish a whole lot of things before I put myself in a position to write and post a chapter weekly like I used to.
I think I pushed myself a bit too hard. I'm really sorry about that. But I'm going to try harder from now on.

In other news, there's a new season of Haikyu coming out this fall! I'm so excited.
Where I am in the manga is going to be amazing animated. I hope you're all as ready as I am for this season.
I'm very much looking forward to seeing certain matches on the screen, as well as some new characters.

Anyways, thank you all for your support. Getting emails about this story really helped me pull myself out of my funk.

-Chiyuki