𝑆𝐼𝐿𝑉𝐸𝑅 𝑊𝐼𝑆𝑇𝐸𝑅𝐼𝐴. haikyuu

━━ＮＩＪŪＫＵ

It was now late in the afternoon—almost dusk to be precise, the Karasuno players had finished there practice for the day. The members were now packing and carrying their things to return to the Fuji household. They needed a well-rounded rest after the vigorous training with the Shiratorizawa ace.

Speaking of the latter, he left early to catch a bus back to Sendai City. Nao was with the captain to see him off, citing that there were still things that he needed to take care, but he told them that he would eventually return once he was done.

"Man, Ushiwaka's skills sure were something!" Tanaka stretched both of his arms, left and right. They were a little sore from their match. He would like to have a nice, warm bath after this. "Now I know why he was called the super ace."

The team was walking in a leisure pace as they listened to their wing spiker. Some of the players wore serious expressions when they continued to tread on.

"But what got me the most was his confession to Nao." He stated, putting his hands on the back of his head while he spoke.

"That certainly was something." Tanaka blurted out, equally as surprised. "Wished I had that kind of confidence!" He then added, heaving a sigh. Tanaka proceeded to extend his arms to the heavens, saying a silent prayer.

"You already have that confidence." Ennoshita bluntly told him right away. "If not more."

Tanaka gave a loud, unrestrained laugh upon hearing the latter, it boomed as they walked through the streets. "Oh yeah! I kinda forgot!Thanks for reminding me!"

The members then shook their heads. Tanaka was Tanaka after all.

"But seriously." He later coughed, composing himself after his humored guffaw. "Who would have thought that the stone-cold ace was capable of that?"

He scanned through his teammates, waiting for their response. He saw their captain was deep in thought. "It really makes you think, right? Daichi-san?" The wing spiker asked the dark-haired player.

Daichi was taken aback by his question. He was just thinking about the events that had transpired earlier. "Y-yeah—I guess so." He hesitantly replied.

"Hmm." Tanaka pondered, touching his imaginary beard on his chin with his thumb and forefinger.

"I see something different in all of you." He narrowed his eyes to his teammates, examining them in suspicion.

"Thank goodness, I was not the only one who had noticed it!"

Nishinoya inadvertently exclaimed, turning to Tanaka. "There sure is something different here!" The libero directed to all the players in front of him.

"Especially you—Shōyō!" Hinata then looked to both of his sides. Shocked at being called all of a sudden. The middle blocker pointed at himself.

"Me?" He squeaked.

"Yeah—you. You got a special mention!"

"But why?"

Nishinoya emphasized his gesture towards the orange-haired player, pointing at him up and down. "You're supposed to be like us! You're supposed to be loud and annoying!"

"Eh—?!"

Tsukishima then snorted, giving them a half-surpressed laugh. "Well, I can see that right now."

The libero flashed him a glare, his focus now on him. "Except for you—Tsukishima!"

He mentioned the tall middle blocker. "There's nothing different about you at all—and that's not a good thing. You're still the same antagonistic jerk that I know!"

Tanaka sagely nodded in support of Nishinoya, his arms folded as he had thought about it regarding the blond player.

"You should change, Tsukishima."

The wing spiker pronounced his name in a condescending tone that the latter was known to have. Remembering their conversation earlier.

"That is—if you want Nao to notice you."

Tsukishima grew quiet thereafter. Mentioning the girl made him do so. She just had that implicit effect on him. It started when he saw her holding out a plate of pancake. It was her means of saying her thanks when he had helped her reach out for the glass container. She was shyly trying to evade her gaze from him, cheeks flushed in obvious embarrassment.

Nao was, in a way, endearing as he had recalled it. His face softened from the memory.

He wanted to see her like that again. Most specifically, become the reason for her every smile—resulting in that pretty color on her cheeks. The bespectacled middle blocker was aware that he was not the only one who had wanted to see Nao in that state of happiness. It was clear that some of his teammates were interested as well.

This was still new to Tsukishima. But he would like to get that little chance that he knew he had. Because—at least—no matter how small or large it was. It was still a chance after all.

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