Refuge in Your Eyes

Under His Skin

It was the second day at camp and Tsukki was already tired. They'd lost every set they played and the punishments for losing here were arguably worse than they'd been at their previous training camp. He was absolutely exhausted as he walked back into the gym to get his volleyball shoes. 

Yamaguchi came in a few minutes later. 

"Hey Tsukki? I'm gonna go work on my serves if you wanna come along."

"No, I'm going straight to bed," Tsukki replied quickly. It was just like Tadashi to be eager to get some more practice in, even when he was exhausted. But to Tsukki that just seemed ridiculous. He wasn't going to exert himself more than he needed to. 

"Well, uh..." Tadashi started.

"What?"

"Don't take this the wrong way but... are you going to do anything to prepare at all?"

"We practice way too much as it is. There's no use running ourselves into the ground," He said, walking away from Tadashi. 

He stepped into the cool night-time air and replayed the conversation in his head. He knew that Yamaguchi didn't feel that way about volleyball, so why'd he have to say it like that? He breathed in the summer air and exhaled deeply. Nothing had changed between him and Yamaguchi so why was he avoiding practicing with him?

No, that wasn't it.

It was this. The whole training camp.

The whole idea baffled Tsukishima. They'd been at it all day, but still, when he glanced in the different gyms, he saw countless players working on different skills. 

What was their drive? 

"Hey Karasuno," A deep voice called out from the gym Tsukki had just passed. 

He stopped and looked over. Two players from opposite teams stared back at him. What could these two possibly want from him? One of them wore a blue shirt and white shorts with kneepads underneath. He recognized him as Fukurodani's ace, Kōtarō Bokuto. The other one wore a black t-shirt and red shorts. Nekoma's captain. Tsukishima was pretty sure he was the same person that was always an arms length away from that setter that Hinata was always babbling to.

"Can you maybe jump a few blocks for us?" The latter asked. 

Tsukishima stared at the two of them for a moment to process their request. Why would they want him to block for them anyway? Their teams were miles ahead of Karasuno. They had their own blockers to help them. They were probably much better than he was anyway. 

"Sorry, I'm all done for the day. You have a good night," He replied.

"What?" The two said in unison. Their faces were twisted with confusion. Tsukki took this as a sign that they had no idea how to process Tsukishima's denial.

Typical, Tsukki thought. They think everyone is the same as them, ready to jump off a cliff for this game. Not me. They'll just need to find someone else.

"There's no point in practicing our spikes without blockers," The Fukurodani player complained. 

Guess he isn't used to being told no.

"Why does it have to be me? What about your own guys?"

Another Fukurodani player came up from behind the ace. Bokuto propped up his arm on him as he replied, "No, Bokuto's the worst. His spiking practice goes on forever. It's like he never stops."

Tsukishima studied the two as the Nekoma player went on about why their 6'4 player couldn't do it either. Bokuto had switched from leaning his arm on the other boy's shoulder to wrapping it around his waist in a sort of protective way. It seemed so natural. Could they be...