Part 2: Chapter 14
You stood outside the Tsukishima's household, not sure if you should ring the doorbell or not. It was Saturday, the day where Tsukishima promised to help you in your math for the upcoming finals. Right now, you were having a mental debate if you should ring the bell or not to notify the Tsukishimas that there is someone standing outside their house.
'What could possibly go wrong if I ring the bell? Oh, maybe the fact that I was supposed to meet string bean at the park instead of his house. What is the worst that can happen?' You thought to yourself, pacing back and forth as you contemplate if you should ring the bell or not.
Who knew that ringing the bell could be such a hard decision to make?
"(name)?"
You froze in mid-pace as you heard your name being called by none other than Tsukishima. You turned to face Tsukishima with a nervous smile on your face as he simply raised his brows at you, a confused look on his face. "What are you doing here? I thought we were meeting at the park. Wait, how do you even know where I stay?"
At the last sentence, Tsukishima's confusion shifted to suspicion as he narrowed his golden eyes. You straightened your body as your (e/c) eyes dart right and left, refusing to meet the blond's piercing glare. As the silence dragged on, you could feel Tsukishima's glare burning a hole into your back as he silently demanded an explanation.
You gathered your courage as your (e/c) eyes met with Tsukishima's golden ones, searching for any signs of anger. When you found none, you sheepishly explained. "Er...I might or might not have ask Yamaguchi for your address."
Tsukishima simply sighed, used to your randomness and walked into his house, calling after you. "I'm not even going to bother asking why. Just come in already."
"Yes sir!" You cheerfully said as you followed after Tsukishima, removing your shoes before stepping into the house.
"Pardon my intrusion."
You nervously mumbled as you unconsciously moved closer towards Tsukishima, feeling uncomfortable at a house that is not yours. Tsukishima raised his brows as you clutched onto his shirt tightly as you hid behind him, only your head peeking out from the side to take in your surrounding. The blond found your behavior strange, considering you are usually excited to meet new people or being in a new environment.
"Kei, who is that?"
A tall male with blond hair, a few shades darker than Tsukishima's own hair entered the living room. You slowly began to emerge from behind Tsukishima, curious as to what relation does Tsukishima has with this male. Older brother? From the looks of it, this male is taller than Tsukishima and let's just say if you thought Tsukishima is tall, this guy is a giant. Sometimes being short sucks.
The male has a small smile on his face as he introduced himself, knowing that Tsukishima wouldn't bothered to introduce him. "Hello there, my name is Tsukishima Akiteru. I'm Kei's older brother. Are you his friend?"
"It's none of your business, Akiteru-nii. Let's go munchkin." Tsukishima glowered at his older brother as he pushed you behind his back, trying to hide you from Akiteru.
You glanced at Akiteru as his smile faltered slightly at his younger brother's harsh comment, before recovering with a smile that seemed forced this round. However, you could tell that string bean's words had hurt Akiteru, the pain and hurt reflected in his golden eyes. Rage filled you at how Tsukishima acted cold towards his older brother, but there must be a reason behind why the blond was acting this way so you weren't quick to jump to conclusion.
You introduced yourself to Akiteru with a smile and an outstretched hand which was shook by Akiteru. "Hello there! I'm sorry for not introducing myself earlier on. My name's Ukai (name) and I'm string bean's friend even though he always deny so. Nice to meet you."
You stuck your tongue out at Tsukishima who glared at you when you called him his usual nickname in front of his family. Akiteru chuckled as he shook your hands, saying. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ukai-san."
"Please call me by my first name. Ukai is what people call my older brother and grandpa, I prefer to be called by my first name."
"Alright then, I'll leave you and Kei to be. It's nice to see that Kei has another friend other than Tadashi."
Akiteru bid you both a farewell, promising to bring up snacks and drinks later. You beamed at Akiteru who was retreating to the kitchen before turning to face Tsukishima who stood there with his arms crossed, a scowl on his face.
"If you keep scowling like that, you're face will be stuck like that forever. Now, shall we get going?" You cheerfully said.
Tsukishima's scowl deepen as he replied. "Tch. There's a just a fairy tale to scare children."
"Have you ever heard of sarcasm before? If not, you may want to check the dictionary." You retorted as you began to climb the stairs up to Tsukishima's room.
Said male just glared as he followed behind you up to the second floor. You stood before three doors before approaching one that has a dinosaur with the words "keep out". You reached out to open the door, however you were stopped by Tsukishima who moved to block you. You raised your head to give Tsukishima a confused look as he glared down at you.
"What are you doing string bean? This is your room right? I mean the dinosaur sign that says 'keep out' is so obvious that even a blind man can tell its your room." You sarcastically said.
Tsukishima narrowed his eyes at you in annoyance as he reply, "A blind man wouldn't be able to locate my room considering he can't see."
"It's just an expression, move on already string bean." You rolled your eyes as you elbowed Tsukishima's side so that he will move out the way.
Tsukishima clutched his side as he glowered at you with his usual scowl that you were immune to it by now. You ignored the scowl sent your way as you opened the door leading to Tsukishima's room, feeling excited and curious at the same time.
'Let's see what sort of dirty secrets does string bean hides in his room.' You grin evilly to yourself as you turned the knob and pushed the door open, entering the room.
To your disappointment, Tsukishima's room looks like any other ordinary room minus all the dinosaurs figurines that were displayed around. You glanced around the room with curiosity shining in your (e/c) eyes. Tsukishima's room looked like your bedroom, except a whole lot neater. His bed was neatly made and his books are stacked according to alphabet on the shelf. Basically, nothing looks out of place. If it weren't for the dinosaurs figurines and plushies, the room would have lacked the feeling of warmth.
Tsukishima leaned against the door frame, an uninterested look on his face. However deep down, Tsukishima was feeling nervous about your thoughts of his bedroom. He looked with cautious eyes as you glanced around, your face slowly lighting up with childlike expression. As times slowly passed, the megane began to calm down as you let out a squeal and rushed towards his bed, your attention focused on the triceratops plushie placed next to his pillow.
"OMG! THIS IS LIKE THE CUTEST THING EVER!"
You plucked the dinosaur off from the bed and hugged to your chest, a childlike joy on your face. Tsukishima let out a soft smile at the sight of you squealing cutely, butterflies fluttering in his stomach. Tsukishima watched as you continued to explore his room with curiosity and wonder, acting like a 5-year-old.
Not that the blond mind if he get to observe your soft and girly side since you usually act all tough and tomboyish.
Tsukishima's heart flutters lightly when you grabbed another dinosaur plushie and showed it to him eagerly, a bright smile on your face.
Yeap, Tsukishima can get use to this side of you more often.
***
"So, all I have to do is to carry 2 to the other side? Or am I getting this wrong?" You glanced at Tsukishima with a lost look on your face, not understanding the math behind it.
Tsukishima gave you a desperate look as he replied. "No, you're suppose to carry 3 to the other side, not 2. I have explain how to do this equation to you like five times and you still can't get it? This was being taught in middle school for goodness sake!"
"Ah, I give up! This is so complicated. I hate math!" You gave a frustrated shout and pushed your book on to the floor, a pout settling on your face.
For the past 15 minutes, Tsukishima has been trying to explain how to solve this one particular equation that you simply could not understand no matter how hard you try. At this point, you are ready to burn your math notebook and scattered the ashes into the wind where you hopefully wouldn't see it anymore.
"You're hopeless." Tsukishima gave up as he leaned his head back to rest on his bed, an arm covering his eyes.
"Come on, string bean. You can't give up on me now or else I wouldn't be able to go to Tokyo. Then, I wouldn't be able to see Kuroo-nii and the rest of Nekoma!" You let out a desperate whine as you crawled next to the blond, tugging on his shirt.
If Tsukishima who is a math genius gives up on teaching you math, it means that you are just that bad at math. (A/N: this is me in real life, can anyone relate? ><)
Tsukishima lift up his arm and glanced down at you with a blank look, saying "no" before covering his face once more. However after a moment of silence, Tsukishima became curious as to why you were so quiet of all a sudden. So, he lifted his head and were met with you playing with his dinosaur figurines.
A fond look settle on his face as he spend the next few minutes observing you playing with his dinosaurs, completely lost in your own world. Usually if anyone were to touch his dinosaurs without his permission, Tsukishima would have flipped out. But with you, you just looked adorable and downright happy that even if Tsukishima was to be angry at you for touching his dinosaurs without his permission, he knew that he can't stay mad at you forever.
A comfortable silence settled between the two teenagers until a knock could be heard on the door. Youstopped playing with the dinosaurs and turned your head towards the door which was being open by Tsukishima. You face lit up into a smile when you were met with the sight of Akiteru carrying a tray of delicious looking snacks.
"Hey, I thought you two might be hungry after studying for two hours. So, I brought some snacks up. I hope I'm not interrupting your study session." Akiteru sheepishly smiled, ignoring the slight glare his younger brother was sending towards him.
You immediately scrambled to your feet as you rushed towards the table where Akiteru placed the tray of food down, exclaiming. "Oh my gosh, I love you Akiteru-san. You're like the best thing to exist ever! I'm starving!"
Tsukishima frowned at what you said towards his older brother as he watched the interaction between his friend and his brother, bitterness filling him. Akiteru laughed as you tried to stuff as many grapes as you can into your mouth, looking like a chipmunk. A light blush settled on your face when the older Tsukishima patted you on the head with a fond smile.
The sight of you blushing caused by his older brother's action stirred some unwanted feelings in Tsukishima. This time round he acknowledges those feelings rather than denying them, knowing that it is better to face them then running away. However, he was still not happy at the interaction between you and Akiteru.
Needless to say, Tsukishima was jealous at the fact that someone else other than him can make you smile until like that.
Tsukishima cleared his throat, saying in a monotone voice. "Thanks for the snacks nii-san. But, if you don't mind, munchkin and I need to get back to studying."
Akiteru's golden eyes widen in surprise before fixing Tsukishima with a knowing look, his eyes lit with amusement. The megane ignored the look his brother was giving him as you began to whine about not wanting to do math anymore.
"Do you want to see your Nekoma friends or not?" Tsukishima fixed you a deadpanned look.
You gasped in horror when you were reminded about the doom waiting for you if you were to fail your math exam. Tsukishima smirks as he watched you sat down and picked up your notebook from the floor, waving it around like a manic.
"String bean, what are you still waiting for? I have a paper to pass!"
Tsukishima let out a chuckle as he approached you and sat next down to you, continuing from where you both stopped. Akiteru smiled gently to himself as he looked at the sight of his brother and the girl next to him. His smile widens more when he saw the fond smile on Tsukishima's face when you finally got the question right.
His younger brother might not realize the feelings stirring within him that was caused by Ukai (name) or Akiteru could be wrong based on the jealous look that Kei was sending him earlier on.
But for now, Akiteru was just glad that Kei met a friend like you.
***
"KUROO-NII!"
You screamed as you make a dash for Kuroo who has his arms wide open, his signature smirk already showing on his face. You threw yourself at Kuroo, your arms going around his neck as his went around your waist to support you. Your laughter reached the sky as Kuroo spun you around, a habit that you both had since from young.
"I miss you so so much, Kuroo-nii." You murmured, burying your face into Kuroo's neck.
"I miss you too, Kitten."
You smiled at the nickname that Kuroo called you as you two continued to embrace one another, taking in each others' warmth. Both you and Kuroo were still in your worlds when suddenly someone cleared their voice, startling the two teenagers. Your head turned towards the voice where you were met with an irritated Tsukishima, his arms full of your stuffs.
"Next time round you go throwing yourself into someone's arms, you might wanna think twice before dumping your belongings at someone. I'm not your butler!" Tsukishima snapped as he dumped your belongings (gently) on to the floor before walking away.
You and Kuroo stared at Tsukishima's retreating back, still processing what just happened. You tilt your head to the side in confusion, saying. "What died and crawled up string bean's butt? He seemed more salty than ever."
Kuroo smirked to himself as he observed Yamaguchi asking if Tsukishima was okay or not, only to have the tall blond ignoring him as Tsukishima continue to give Kuroo a hostile look. Well, this year training camp might just be a bit tad more interesting.
You looked at Kuroo, wondering what he was staring at. "Ne Kuroo-nii, what are you looking at?"
Kuroo turned his attention to you and gave you a not-so-innocent look, answering you. "Nothing. By the way, aren't we missing some people?"
You gave Kuroo a nervous smile as you hesitantly reply. "Actually..."
"This is how awesome..." Nishinoya exclaimed as he displayed his exam paper, the number '45' standing out.
"...your senpais are!" Tanaka finished as he does the same thing as Nishinoya.
You gave your seniors an unimpressive look as they spun around like idiots before ending in a ridiculous pose with smug looks on their faces, Suga's expression mirroring after you. "You both barely got over 40 points, so don't act so smug."
You nodded your head in agreement as the idiot duo faltered, being reminded of the fact that they were close to failing which means they wouldn't have been able to attend the away games in Tokyo.
You ignored your seniors as you turned to both Kageyama and Hinata, their heads hanging down as an aura of despondent surrounded them. Being the kind friend that you were, you patted their heads as you tried to comfort them knowing that you would have been in the same shoes as them, if not for Tsukishima.
You really have to thank Tsukishima for helping you in your math or else you would have failed that subject and not able to attend the away games in Tokyo. You were glad that all the hard work you put in had paid off when you received back your result, the number '65' in red staring back at you.
"What? Hinata, you failed English?! But you were so confident." Suga asked in surprised, glancing at Hinata's English paper that was in Tsukishima's hands.
"Apparently, he figured out right before time was up that he'd filled in all his answers off by one." Tsukishima explained.
"Seriously? Sadly, the English teacher. Ono-sensei, won't let things like that slide." Asahi said, sympathy filling his voice.
"Yeah, Yachi-san was really shocked." Yamaguchi piped in as well.
You winced at your friends' words as you try to comfort the ball of sunshine that is anything but bright now. "There, there."
Meanwhile, Daichi was looking through Kageyama's literature paper with furrowed eyebrows. "And Kageyama failed modern lit."
"Apparently, there was a lot of reading comprehension questions this time around. But he'd concentrated on memorization when he studied." Ennoshita add on, his face showing sympathy for the blueberry.
At this point, you were crying crocodile tears for your friend as you pulled your precious blueberry into your chest, cradling Kageyama's head like a newborn child. "Don't cry, my precious baby. Come, mummy will comfort you."
Tsukishima looked at you in disgust, wondering why was he friend with such a weirdo like you.
Thus Hinata and Kageyama were left behind in Miyagi as the rest of the Karasuno team headed for Tokyo.
"So the power duo's taking some supplementary exams right now?" Kuroo asked, glancing up at you as he carried you on his shoulders, walking into the school.
"Yes, and here I was looking forward to having fun at camp with them." You pouted as you looked down at Kuroo who gave you a sympathetic smile.
"Ahhhh! Th...th...there're two girls now! Now they've got a pretty one and cute one!"
Both you and Kuroo shift your attention towards the direction of the voice, only to be met with Yamamoto down on his knees, an agonized look on his face.
You watched with amusement, knowing where this was going when Tanaka stepped in and said. "Do you see, Tora? This is what Karasuno's true ability looks like."
You and Kuroo let out a laugh while Tsukishima who appeared next to you two a while go gave an amused look. You were still laughing when suddenly Tsukishima speak up, a smirk on his face. "Looks like Yamamoto-san and Tanaka-san forgot that Karasuno actually had three girls instead of two."
At that comment, you stopped laughing as Tsukishima's words sink in. Kuroo, Tsukishima, Tanaka and Yamamoto glanced at you, a blank on your face.
"Kuroo-nii, please let me down." You said, your hair hiding your (e/c) eyes.
Kuroo immediately let you down with a smirk as you stalked towards Tanaka and Yamamoto, your head hanging down. The bald duo slowly back away as you approached them before stopping before them. However the moment you lifted your head, Tanaka and Yamamoto run for the hills.
Your (e/c) eyes were silted like a crow, the look of a predator.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT YOU TWO FORGOT ABOUT ME. ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY THAT I'M A BOY BECAUSE I'M UGLY LOOKING? GET BACK HERE!"
Tsukishima and Kuroo let out rambunctious laughter as yo chased after the bald duo, your hands raised in the air as you threatened to tear their bodies apart and feed it to the crows.
"AHHHH! WE'RE SORRY (NICKNAME)-CHAN!"
***
You entered the gym with the Karasuno team as Kuroo explained to Daichi what's the agenda for today. You were helping Yachi and Kiyoko to set up the team's water bottle and towels when suddenly you hear a very familiar owl's loud voice shouting across the gym for you.
"HEY! HEY! HEY! AKAASHI-SAN, LOOK IT'S (NICKNAME)-CHAN!"
Everyone's heads turned towards the direction of Fukurodani team where their captain was standing there with his hands on his hips, his sliver and black hair standing up proudly. Honestly, Bokuto reminds you of the great-horned owl with that ridiculous hair of his.
"Bokuto-san, shut up."
Your (e/c) eyes lit up when you saw Akaashi standing next to Bokuto, his face remaining impassive as ever. Without giving a second thought, you dropped whatever you were doing as you ran across the gym towards where Fukurondani is.
Bokuto opened his arms up, ready to receive you with a huge smile on his face. Only to be met with disappointment as you ran past the third year and collide straight into Akaashi who was not prepared at all, causing you two to fall onto the floor.
"Akaashi-kun, it's great to see you again! How have you been?" You beamed at Akaashi, your body straddling him. (don't worry kids, it's not what you think!)
Akaashi gave you a soft smile as he patted you on the head, you leaning into the touch. "Hey there, (nickname)-chan."
"I was the one who greeted you first and yet you completely ignored me."
You and Akaashi turned to face Bokuto who has glancing down at you two, a pout on his face. You and Akaashi looked at each other before nodding and knowing what you have to do without saying anything.
You jumped onto your feet and wrapped your arms around Bokuto, squeezing him as tightly as you can. "Sorry for ignoring you Bokuto. I miss you as well."
For once, Bokuto stopped being his loud and energetic self as he pat you on the head, a fond smile on his face. "I miss you too. It's been so long since we last seen each other."
After that, you spend a few minutes catching up the rest of the Fukurodani team before making your way back to Karasuno's side of the gym. Kiyoko smiled and Yachi waved enthusiastically as you approached them.
"I'm so sorry for abandoning you guys half way just now. It's just that I haven't seen them in a long time." You sheepishly explained.
Kiyoko gave you a gentle smile in return, saying. "It's alright. But you seemed to know a lot of volleyball players (nickname)-chan."
You just smiled and gave a shrug, saying. "Well, it's one of the perks of being a volleyball player yourself."
With that, you face the court as the whistle blew, indicating the start of the first matches of the day. You gave your friends a thumbs up as they all grinned at you in return. It will be perfect if only Hinata and Kageyama are here. For now, you can only hope that Tanaka's savior will get them here safely.
***
The whistle blew as the match came to end, Karasuno loosing to Fukurodani. To be honest you weren't that surprise that Karasuno lost considering they were going up against a powerhouse. You stood up and placed your notebook down on the chair before heading towards the side of the court where your friends were preparing to do their punishment - diving drills.
"Hey guys!" You greeted the team who glanced at you in confusion.
"What are you doing here (name)? Shouldn't you be with Ukai-kun and the rest?" Daichi asked.
You placed your hands on your hips as you grinned at them. "I know. I'm here to join you guys in doing diving skills."
When Suga opened his mouth to protest, you went on. "Don't even try to stop me, Suga-chan. Now, what are we waiting for? Let's do it!"
"If we only have your enthusiasm when it comes to doing punishment." Daichi said dryly as he got into position.
"That's the spirit!" You cheered before diving down and pushing your arms behind as your stomach glide across the floor.
After that you returned back to the bench where your brother was grinning up at you.
"What?" You asked as you sat down next to him.
"Everyone's talking about you." Keishin simply replied.
Sure enough, you could hear people pointing and whispering at you as you glanced around the gym.
"Did you see that girl? She did a perfect dive!"
"Isn't she one of the Karasuno's managers?"
"She's cute though."
You sighed, used to the attention by now as you turned to face the crowd and answered all their unanswered questions. "I'm the assistant coach for Karasuno and I used to play volleyball myself, but not anymore. Thanks for the compliment though."
At that, you winked at the boy who made that comment about you and breaking a fuse in him as he stood there with a red face, not responding to his teammates. You chuckled as you sat back down on the bench, Keishin shaking his head at your behavior.
"One of these days I'll have to bring out grandpa's shotgun if you're gonna keep attracting boys like this." You rolled your eyes as your brother muttered under his breath.
"Please, you can't even hurt a fly. What makes you think you can scare the boys away? Leave that job to ji-san."
"Yea yea, continue to hurt my ego like usually do."
"That's my job as your sister." You winked at your brother who just rolled his eyes at you.
"Anyway, will you be joining them for training since I saw you packing your guards?" Keishin questioned.
"I will, but I will only join in when Kageyama and Hinata are here. After all, what else is more amazing when Karasuno's power duo and a girl who is a national libero playing volleyball together?" You replied with a smirk.
Your brother simply shook his head and said. "What am I gonna do with you?"
"You know you love me."
"..."
"..."
"Whatever."
Smack!
"Ahhh! Ukai-san, are you okay?"
"(nickname)-chan, you can really pack a punch."
"Thank you."
***
"Hey, they are still at it. We totally made it. Not bad at all."
All heads turned to the door where Saeko, Tanaka's older sister was standing.
Tanaka panted, feeling out of breath but nonetheless he was happy to see his sister. "Glad they made it in one piece."
"So the stars are showing up fashionably late? How annoying."
You chuckled as you and Kuroo exchanged a knowing look. You smirked as everyone in the gym turned to the entrance in curiosity, wondering what the fuss was all about. Standing at the entrance, proud and tall was none other than Kageyama and Hinata.
Keishin looked to you with a smirk of his own and gave you a nod. You grinned back as you turned to face the duo of Karasuno, all three of you exchanging a nod. After all, the only reason you didn't join in the training was because you made a promise with your friends.
It's time to show what Karasuno is made of and you can't wait for the looks on everyone's faces.