Today was the day Karasuno and Shiratorizawa were having their first practise match together. The tensions were high: Shiratorizawa was a power house school and Karasuno was rising from the ashes. Both teams wanted to win, but one a little more than the other.
Stretching on both sides of the court, all the players were excited to get started and show off their new skills and players. First years were ready to prove themselves and upperclassmen wanting to give their school pride.
"Ready?" Daichi asked as he shook hands with Ushijima. "Here's to a good game."
"Hm."
The teams had meetings with their coaches, discussing tactics and attacks to take advantage of the game. Ukai was hyping up some of the players- knowing the school's long history with Shiratorizawa- and told them to just try their best.
"Karasuno... Fight!"
It was Karasuno starting off the match, and their new setter was standing at the back line, ready to serve. He took a deep breath and several steps back before waiting for the whistle to go. When it did, he threw the ball in the air and took four steps forwards before jumping high. His palm collided with the ball and he watched as it flew over the net, slamming on the back line of Shiratorizawa's court.
The whistle blew and Karasuno took the first point.
Wide eyes looked at the new first year, surprised at the power that serve held. Yet, they could see that he was holding back. The setter's breath was steady and he looked focused, nodding at his team's cheers.
"Wah, Kageyama that was awesome!"
"Get us another one!"
"So cool. It was like fwaaaah!"
Kageyama, that was his name. Dark red pupils honed in on the new setter, taking his time as he read him, his expressions, his actions. But there was not much he could read- the first year seemed closed off- and this intrigued him greatly. Kageyama looked up and saw that a spiky, red-haired male was looking at him with wide eyes from the other side of the court, and he raised a brow at the reason why, but brushed it off and went to serve again...
It was the middle of the first set and it was 15-21 to Shiratorizawa. The red-head turned out to be a middle blocker and was excellent at read blocking, although he was incredible when he guess blocked too. Kageyama found out his name was Tendou- after one of his teammates was muttering about how annoying his blocking was.
He heard him singing a funny song, about crushing Karasuno's hearts and spirits. As much as it bewildered the setter it also amused him.
At one point, Kageyama was opposite Tendou, and when the red-head had stopped his singing to focus on Karasuno's attacks, Kageyama decided to sing it a little himself.
"Keep on breaking them. What, you say? Their hearts..."
Tendou looked at the setter, taken by surprise that he was quietly singing his song. Kageyama wasn't looking back at him however, and took the middle blocker's surprise as an advantage, performing a setter dump right by his side.
"Keep on shattering them. Their spirits..."
Kageyama sang the last little bit of the song whilst looking at Tendou, a small smirk on his face. Tendou's wide eyes narrowed and he took a step closer to the net, the setter mirroring him.
"So there's a little monster amongst the crows?" the red-head mused. "One of my kind?"
"Not little." the setter retorted. "Is the big monster scared?"
"You wish."
"Oh, I do."
"We'll crush you."
"We'll find ways to fly."
The setter headed to the back row as it was his time to serve again. He raised the ball to eye-level and saw the middle blocker staring at him from over the surface. He took a deep breath in and out before making another killer serve, this time making a cross shot and causing Shiratorizawa's starting structure to crumble, giving Karasuno an advantage.
As Kageyama ran across the court, he could feel a heavy gaze on him trying to put him off, but he was used to stares at this point and didn't make it bother him, causing another intrigued gaze...
Second set, and both teams seemed to notice there was some sort of tensions going on between Kageyama and Tendou, a competition of sorts. Karasuno were motivated by this, and pushed themselves harder so Kageyama could play his best game, and Shiratorizawa was surprised Tendou found someone he could see as an equal.
"Keep on breaking them." the middle blocker sang as he made an excellent block against Daichi's spike, following the ball as the setter dug it up.
"What, you say?" Kageyama sang back quietly, so it was barely audible but to the red-head who was staring at him.
"Their hearts." Tendou teased.
"Keep on shattering them." agreed the setter.
"Their spirits." Tendou sang with a grin, as he watched the first year make an excellent set before running to the other side of the court...
Two sets had ended, both going well over the 25 match point. At last, it was one set to each team and both were tired. Since it wasn't an official match they decided not to do a third match, but instead to call it a day and cool down before getting some food to eat.
As the game was announced finished, they split off the court and began to stretch, easing their aching muscles from the intense matches. Hinata wanted to ask Kageyama about his spiking but was taken by surprise to find him speaking to the crazy middle blocker from Shiratorizawa. This was shocking for several reasons: 1) Kageyama was terrible when talking to people, especially people he just met; 2)the red-head seemed like a complete opposite to Kageyama; 3)nobody else was mixing with the other team.
"Are they staring?" Kageyama asked quietly as he had his back to his team.
"Yeah they are! Hello!" Tendou shouted and waved over to the Karasuno team, who's eyes all widened at the middle blocker noticing their looks.
"Stop." the setter mumbled, turning red as he could feel his team's gazes.
"Okay okay, no shattering of hearts today." Tendou resigned as he leaned back against the wall and put his hands behind his head.
"That's a funny song. It's creepy, but funny."
"Why thankyou. I made it myself."
"Hm."
"You picked it up pretty quickly, that's how you scored that setter dump."
"Are you saying I wouldn't have scored if I didn't?" the setter asked, looking up at the red-head with a unimpressed look.
"No! No. It just helped."
"So the monster does has a heart?" he asked, raising a brow at Tendou's wide eyes.
"It seems you do too. Despite all that brooding."
"... Maybe. How did you get the nickname Guess Monster anyways?"
"It's not the greatest story." Tendou said looking down.
"I'm listening."
Tendou looked up and saw sincerity in Kageyama's eyes; so, he began his long tale of his childhood. As he spoke Kageyama could relate to some of the things he had went through and so told him about his experiences with the King of the Court nickname.
"But now we've made them great titles. They're a reflection of how we've grown."
"I guess so." the setter agreed with a small smile.
After stretching a little more, Daichi called Kageyama over, saying they were leaving. The first year nodded and headed over, giving a small wave to Tendou, who watched him with that intrigued look of his.
The two teams lined up and shook hands as Karasuno walked past, in order of their jersey numbers. When Kageyama walked up to the red-head, they shook hands. The setter turned to walk on but felt something slip into his hand as he did so. Once everyone had shook hands and Karasuno were heading out the door, he looked down to see a slip of paper in his palm with a number on it.
'***** *** ***' - Guess Monster.
Call me! (≧ ᗜ ≦)
Looking over his shoulder, he saw Tendou was looking at him and waving. He looked down at the number then back up with a small smile before heading out, making Tendou's eyes gleam.
"What was all that about?" Hinata asked as soon as they were on the minibus.
"All what?" Kageyama replied as he slumped down into a seat near the back and let out a tired sigh. He put his legs up on the other chair so nobody could sit next to him.
"You and the scary guy with spiky red hair! Duh!" Hinata asked as he sat opposite him.
"Tendou's not scary."
Looking down to hide the smile on his face, Kageyama took his phone out of his bag and unlocked it. He headed to his contacts list and added Tendou's number; he decided to send him a text.
Kageyama: Hi.
Tendou: arehrihdkwozgak8fbwoz
Tendou: Hello!
Tendou: ┻┳|
┳┻| _
┻┳| •.•)
┳┻|⊂ﾉ
┻┳|
Tendou: Guess who!
Kageyama: I know it's you, you gave me your number
Tendou: o(╥﹏╥)o
Kageyama: Sigh, hello Tendou
Kageyama: (ｏ・_・)ノ"(ᴗ_ ᴗ。)
Tendou: (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧
Kageyama couldn't help but laugh at how childish Tendou was acting, but then again, he didn't really expect anything else. He quickly disguised his laugh as a cough but he caught a few curious glances, especially from Suga and Hinata.
Kageyama: /\_/\
(='_' )
(, (") (")
Tendou: Take my affection! Ejdnwkxj
Kageyama's eyes widened as he read Tendou's text. It was straightforward and honest and took him by surprise. He took a while to figure out how to reply.
Kageyama: (/ω＼)
Kageyama: That is very sudden.
Tendou: ( •_•)
( •_•)>⌐■-■
(⌐■_■)
Tendou: Swag.
Kageyama: Guess Monster has swag?
Tendou: Very suave, much like
Kageyama: Have you stopped functioning? (৲ဓ―ဓ)৲
Tendou: Yes.
Kageyama: That's sad (;︵;)
Tendou: Don't worry!!!!!!
Tendou: (っ˘з(˘⌣˘ )
Kageyama: ( -_･)σ - - - - - - - - ･
Kageyama: Too close
Tendou: ...
Tendou: Tendou.exe has stopped working
Kageyama:¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Tendou: .·'¯'(>▂<)'¯'·.
Kageyama couldn't help his laughter. He clamped a hand over his mouth to silence the sound but Hinata caught his smile. The ginger was curious about what the setter was looking at that was so funny. He tapped Suga's shoulder- who was sitting in front of him with Daichi- and spoke to him quietly.
"Who is Kageyama talking to?" he whisper-yelled.
"I'd take a guess and say Tendou from Shiratorizawa." the third year replied.
"Him? But he was big and scary!"
"I was surprised when they were talking together after the match." Daichi added. "But Kageyama seems happy."
The trio looked over to the youngest member of the team, finding he was looking at something very amusing on his phone. There was a smile on his face, visible even though he tried to hide it. It was nice to see.
Kageyama could feel people watching him and so looked up. Only to make eye-contact with the trio. His eyes widened and he slowly slumped down in his seat so he could not be seen. This caused Suga and Daichi to laugh and Hinata to grow more curious.
Kageyama: I've been caught!
Tendou: By whom? The police? The secret service!
Kageyama: By my teammates. They keep looking over at me with curious faces.
Tendou: Why? 눈_눈
Kageyama: Because I keep laughing.
Tendou: ...
Tendou: I'm making you laugh!?!?!? Jevskjcbekdjrnfhe
Tendou: (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ
Kageyama: I don't laugh a lot. Or smile.
Tendou: Wah?! Why?
Kageyama: I'm kinda self-conscious about it I guess
Tendou: (ง •̀_•́)ง
Tendou: I will fight anyone who says anything about your smile and laugh. Including you!
Tendou: I has a Sword! (ᗒᗣᗕ)՞o==}::::::::::::>
Kageyama: Thanks
Tendou: Anytime
Kageyama: ｡◕‿◕｡
Tendou: (' ͡༎ຶ ͜ʖ ͡༎ຶ ) Ur smiling ♡
Kageyama: Yeah yeah
Tendou: ..... bdksh2kshjwbzjhdjd
Kageyama: You ok?
Tendou: I'm gonna ask you a question!
Kageyama: Ok
Tendou: ( ̚‿̚ )
Kageyama: I'm scared
Tendou: ( ̚‿̚ ) ( ̚‿̚ ) ( ̚‿̚ )
Kageyama: ejrbeihrjirklwocej Stop!
Tendou: Okay.
Tendou: .... willyougooutwithmesometime!?!?!?
Kageyama: Hmmm....
Kageyama: ｡^‿^｡ yes
Tendou: Really!?!?
Kageyama: I wouldn't say yes if I didn't mean it Tendou
Tendou: _/\____/\
|= ͡° ᆺ ͡°)=
\╭☞ \╭☞
Tendou: Yay! You won't regret it!
Kageyama: Okay, but I have to go now we're back at school.
Tendou: Can I call you later?
Kageyama: Yeah
Tendou: Argh my heart is going all doki doki rn!!!!!
Kageyama: ヾ(-_- )ゞ
Tendou: ヾ(-_- )ゞ
Tendou: Later we will rave!
Kageyama: sure thing, see ya!
Tendou: (ʃƪ˘ﻬ˘) Bai bai!!!!
He smiled before locking his phone and slipping it into his pocket as he got off the bus, grabbing his bag from the storage. He saw it was night-time now and it was probably pretty late. He hadn't noticed anything from the drive since he was texting the whole time.
"I'm up for some takeout, anyone else?" Noya asked as he jumped around to get rid of the pins and needles in his legs.
"Yeah!" Tanaka and Hinata cheered.
All of them decided to go out and get some BBQ from a nearby restaurant to congratulate themselves for a good practise match. Kageyama felt his phone buzz twice from his pocket but didn't take it out as he was talking to Daichi about the game. When they arrived at the restaurant they sat down in a large booth and looked through the menus; Kageyama did this whilst looking at his phone, using the menu as a cover.
"What will you have Kageyama?" asked Suga as he was giving the waiter their order.
"Yakitori chicken, please." he replied not looking up, but this was his usual order anyways.
He looked at the messages and replied quickly.
Tendou: What time do you want me to call you? I don't know how long the journey is.
Kageyama: How about 9? It's 7 now and I'm out for BBQ with the team.
Tendou: Late night call eh houghjlgkjnolrhgnve (࿐‿࿐) I see...
Kageyama: No!
Tendou: (•̀ᴗ•́)و I am winning.
Tendou: I will see ya at 9 ♡ eat well!!!
Kageyama: Definitely!
Kageyama: See you ツ
He sighed and put his phone away, telling Tsuki to shut up when he was teasing him about the mystery person he was messaging. Luckily the food arrived so he was spared from anymore questions; the rest of the night they spent eating good food and having funny conversations.
At last it was about 8:30 and the team exited the restaurant, complaining of fatigue and full stomachs. Kageyama said goodnight and headed home, looking forwards to his call.