"Up. Up. Up!"
"Kageyama-kun stop yelling! I'm doing it!"
"No you're not! Up!"
You push yourself up from the ground repeatedly, sweat beading off your face onto the gym floor, your arms trembling and slipping on the wet surface. Your heaving annoyed him. How could you not take this much of a workout? He's been doing it everyday for years, you must be too weak to handle it.
"Kageyama-kun we've been doing this for three hours! I'm exhausted! You were supposed to help me with my setting, not make me pass out on the floor!" His head veers to your pale face, pupils scanning every detail on your face, finding distress and exhaustion in every glance. He rolls his eyes, turning his head back away from you, sighing.
"Fine, whatever," he mumbles, letting you get up off the floor. Your sore body makes it to the bench, where you grab your water and open the lid, starting to chug the water faster than your body could handle.
"If you keep doing that you're going to throw up you know," he says, only what you could see as an amused face watching you gulp down the water. Once your water bottle was empty, you could only describe the feeling in your stomach as...not normal. Nausea and twingeness flood your senses. "Wait, you're not actually gonna do it are you?" He looks at you incredulously, eyes wide as he backs up, a hand raised hesitantly, pointing in your direction. You continuously shake your head, denying him before deciding to move your feet towards the bathroom, speeding up before crouching down at the toilet.
Kageyama just stood there, watching you disappear again. He was starting to wonder why he even took this job in the first place. Was this going to be an everyday thing: you not wanting to follow his directions and then end up suffering consequences like these? Hmm, maybe he should reconsider.
You on the other hand, couldn't believe what just happened. You just- did you- holy shit- yeah, you did. You could almost laugh at how embarrassing that was. You didn't want to completely admit to yourself that it did occur, but you couldn't hide from it. You were still sitting on the bathroom floor when you decided to pull it together and walk back to the gym.
The gym where Kageyama was nowhere to be seen.
Did he leave? Why? Was he waiting for you? Since when was practice over? When did he leave? Were you taking too long?
"Kageyama? Kageyama-kun! Hello?" You scurry across the gym, grabbing your things before rushing outside. There he was, by the vending machine. "Kageyama! Why'd you leave?" You question him as he nonchalantly presses the buttons on the big machine, ignoring you. It irritated you. You huff at his silence, getting impatient with him. You cross your arms to your chest, leaning your back against the wall while you wait for him. "So I'm just gonna assume that this is the end of practice for today?"
"For tomorrow, too," your eyes widen dramatically, "and the next day, and the next day, and the nex-"
"Okay, Kageyama! I get it! But why? What did I do wrong?" Your frown is evident, the frustration and self-disappointment bleeding through your expression, even if you had turned your head to the side to try and hide it.
"I can't really teach you anything. You don't really learn anything well. You don't follow directions, you don't like my workouts, you don't like..."
His words fade out; your thoughts murky yet so clear. He didn't want to help you anymore. You weren't even good enough to learn. You. Weren't. Good. Enough.
"You can't even-"
"Okay!" You shout, shutting him up, "It's fine, Kageyama-kun. I don't care. It doesn't matter anymore, anyways," you face the floor, a firm tone masking your madness while your fists ball up.
'That's weird,' he thought, looking down at your figure. He couldn't see your face, but your voice made it seem like you were mad or something. Why would you be mad? He's just telling the truth, you don't need to be upset.
"Thank you again for the help, Kageyama-kun. I'm not gonna ask you to help me anymore so just-" you pause, turning your back towards him, "good-bye." You walk away. You had disappeared from his sight once again, leaving him at the vending machine. He shrugs, bending down to pick up his milk carton, then strolling away. He tried to think of something he said wrong, trying to figure out what buttons he pushed, but no matter how hard he racked his brain, nothing came out of it.
~.~.~.~
"Yo, Kageyama! You're late," Tanaka shouts at the tall boy, smirking because he knew he wouldn't be late on purpose. Something kept him back. "Where were you? Were you with someone?" He puts his hands on his hips, bending down and raising his head right below Kageyama's. "Was it a girl?"
"Girl? Where?" Noya speaks up, rushing to Tanaka and Kageyama, frantically turning around in circles trying to find a single girl.
"I think our Kageyama here has a friend," he whispers to Noya, who leans his head toward Tanaka's, nodding in understanding, "a lady friend." Noya's eyes widen and he backs up, sizing Kageyama up and down. Tanaka's eyebrows lift, a satisfied expression on his face while Noya walks all the way around Kageyama, wondering how he got a girlfriend.
"What? No I didn't. Stop that-" He tries to save himself from the teasing and the looks, but his face couldn't contain the obvious tint or red on his face. Imagining himself with a girl was weird, he never thought about that. Imagining himself with you? Well, that was impossible. He didn't like the thought of that. You were annoying, obnoxious, you never shut up, you're loud, you don't follow instructions, how would he ever tolerate a girl like you? "Stop- I don't have a girlfriend!"
"Ohhhh, so you do like a special someone, then?"
"No! I don't!"
"Do you think he's telling the truth, Tanaka-san?"
"Mm, it's hard to tell, Noya, It's obvious he's hiding something though," Tanaka responds, a hand on his chin while he thinks of possible women that could win Kageyama's heart.
"You are so right, Tanaka, we should definitely tell everyone that our lower-classman friend here has a girlfriend." Tanaka dramatically gasps, clasping his hands together.
"We definitely should." Before Kageyama could even raise his hand to stop them, they sprint off, jumping around the rest of the team as he watches his friends turn their heads to him incredulously. They all froze in place, staring. Kageyama just stood there, his eyes flickering to each person with the same expression. Noya and Tanaka snicker in the back while he tries to find an excuse.
"I'm- I'm not dating anyone! I don't even like her!"
Their eyes widen further, including Noya and Tanaka. They weren't actually expecting there to be a girl.
"I just helped her with her sets today, that's it!"
Their heads tilt in unison, confused. The silence is deafening, almost as if he could hear the air move.
"Stop standing like that!" He yells, trying to veer from the subject. He turns to his side, walking over the ball cart before chucking the balls at the crowd, all of them hitting Hinata.
"Ow- ow- OW! KAGEYAMA STOP IT!" He screams once he hits the floor, his teammates finally moving to another subject.
This was gonna be a long practice.
~.~.~.~
You wearily make your way to practice, dragging your feet and watching the ground as you open the doors to the gym the next day. You were mad at yourself, disappointed. You had one job to do. Listen to him. You literally made him quit within twenty-four hours of having him help you. What was wrong with you? Maybe you should just forget about it, forget about him. You wanted to, but the way your stomach clenched in embarrassment as you thought of it made you not want to even show up. But your team needed you. You hoped.
No. No. No no no no no. You weren't doing it right. Your sets weren't as accurate as they were before, and you were barely even watching the ball. Your feet tumble on the floor, your coordination messed up as you run across the court to set this ball. Finally getting under it, you back set it to right-front, watching as the ball didn't make it to the player. She adjusted, and the ball went over, but your set kept her from hitting it with all her power. You couldn't get yourself together, damnit. Why couldn't you just do it right for once?
You sigh in frustration, getting back in position while listening to your coach tell you off.
You could do it. You can do it. You got this. You can set the ball correctly and hopefully not shank it. Putting your hands below the ball, you push it up to the middle-front, watching her take her approach and smack it down on the empty side of the court. You sigh of relief, this time, not mad at your set. You shake your hands in front of you, hearing your coaches praise of "there we go! That's what I'm talking about!" although you were pretty sure that was directed at the girl who actually hit the ball. She was the one who got it over anyways, not you.
He watched from afar, his eyes staying on your figure the entire time you guys were practicing, noticing how your face cringed at every move you made, wincing at every wrong push. You were better than this, he thought, knowing that you weren't showing your full potential. What was wrong? Was it because of yesterday? He caught the way you shook your hands when you got nervous. It annoyed him. He wanted to just grab them to stop moving. Would that work? Would you stop being nervous if he just helped you? Was that all it took?
The whistle blows, ending your practice. You were let down, to say the least. Your skills must've gotten worse. God, you were helpless. Made you want to just hide away forever. Drearily walking out the doors, you halt in front of the specific boy you didn't want to see, holding a milk carton with a sports bag on his shoulder.
"I saw you play," he mumbles. You pinch the bridge of your nose, wanting to just crawl up in a ball right then and there. "That back set you did wasn't powerful enough."
"I know, Kageyama. I'm trying, though, so please get out of my way."
"Wait, let me show you something." He sets his bag down, heading into the gym where you had just left. You groan, following him in. "Come here." You roll your eyes, but set your bag down and meet him on the court. He puts you in your setting position, telling you to watch him. He bends his knees, holds his arms up and sets an imaginary ball backwards. It was different from what you've been doing, your arms didn't extend far enough. His back didn't bend that far either. Huh. Curiously, you do the same, trying to imitate his exact movements. He walks to your side, grabbing your hands and moving them to where they need to be. He then places his hand on your back, telling you not to bend so much. You nod and oblige, following his hands and his movements. "Good. That's good."
"Wait, really?" You ask surprisingly, shocked that you pulled through. "I did it right?"
"Well, almost," he backs up; you stand straight up as you watch him form his words, "there were some little things that need to be worked on but you still improved from earlier. And you actually listened this time." You stifle a chuckle, turning to leave the court. "Where are you going?"
"My practice is over, and you helped me with that, so I was gonna go home," you respond, looking at him confused.
"We aren't done yet."
a/n: kasdkjaskjdh updates are going to be pretty random but again this is a short story, not gonna be longer than 8 parts i think (if it even has 8 parts) sry if you see mistakes just ignore them plss