"Drop and give me ten."
You sighed, dropping to the ground as you got into push-up position.
"Down."
You dropped your body down.
"Up."
You pushed yourself up again.
"One... down."
You bent your elbows, clenching your jaw as you glanced up at Kojima, a malignant smirk on his face as he made you hold that position. He looked to the other girls, all of them doing the drill with extra care to not mess up or seem like they were lazing around.
"Up." Kojima said, glancing down at you huffing as you ignored your shaking arms.
"Two, down."
"That looks gruesome." Minegishi mumbled under her breath, glancing at you having to hold yourself up in a plank, your arms shaking and your face clenched tight.
"Use that as an incentive to not mess up then." One of her teammates suggested, glancing back at their coach monitoring their specific drill section as she tried to discreetly tell Minegishi to pay attention.
"I guess the rumor about both of Shiratorizawa's coaches being devils is true." Minegishi mumbled to herself, wincing at the way your arms almost gave out, hearing Kojima add five more pushups to your ten. "I'd hate to-"
"Minegishi."
She stilled, glancing beside her to see the two girls who were previously in front of her long gone as she held up the line.
"H-heya coach." Minegishi grinned, sighing when her coach nodded towards Kojima and you. "Okay..."
"Eleven... down."
You clenched your jaw, going down as you held your stance, registering the pair of feet walking up besides you but too preoccupied to look over.
"Nice of you to join us, Minegishi-san. Up." Kojima grinned as you pushed yourself up.
Minegishi slowly got into position, quickening her moves when she saw you glare at her to hurry up.
"Twelve, and one... down."
You both went down. You looked at your fingers, slightly spreading them more as you waited for Kojima's signal.
"Up."
You pushed yourself up, huffing out the breath you had held in as you glanced up at Kojima.
"Coach."
"Hmm?"
"Why is this so intense?"
He raised a brow, glancing down at you as he tilted his head.
"Thirteen and two, down... what do you mean?"
You moved your body down, keeping your chin tight as you raised your voice, hoping he could hear you.
"This is the type of push-ups I see foreigners do in military movies."
Kojima snickered.
"Up... did we see the same one? Because I got the idea for this off of one of those movies." He revealed, grinning at the glare you sent him, Minegishi simply listening to the two of you bicker on the side.
"Kojima-san, aren't punishments normally good for us?"
"Are they? Fourteen and three, down." He asked, grinning as you moved down again. "Well who said push-ups aren't good for you? You think receiving is all in your legs? Even if you have buff legs you won't be able to properly send the ball back if you have sticks for arms." He elaborated, glancing at Minegishi who mindlessly stared off at the court.
"Up."
"Kojima-san..." You sighed, looking up at him grin as he nodded to let you sit back.
"It also hurts less when your arms are buff Oikawa! You'll still feel stinging but not as bad. Four, down."
You hummed, standing up as you ignored the tingling all over your body.
"Go drink some water before joining back in."
You nodded, making a mental note to yourself to not try and slack off during drills anymore.
That was torture
You sighed, taking a quick sip of your water as you ignored the remaining tingles bouncing around in your body, as well as the cramps threatening to hold you down.
"Let's get it, let's go." You said, trying to encourage yourself but quickly losing the attitude when you turned to see the drills again, already dreading them.
...
"Ushi-san~" You said with as much energy as your body allowed you to.
Ushijima raised a brow at you, looking you over once as he hummed. "Do you want a piggyback ride Y/N-chan?"
You smiled at him weakly, beginning to nod before stopping yourself. "Wait-no, I'm cuffed up now... I think... and I can't do that when I'm cuffed up." You muttered, convincing yourself you didn't need that piggyback ride.
It wasn't like your legs were basically shaking, or your cramps had gotten ten times worse making your lower body hurt with every move.
Definitely not.
"..."
"You know, I'm sure he won't mind." You concluded, softly waving Ushijima over as he crouched down to let you sit on his back.
You let out a sigh when you had fully sat down, clinging to his shoulders as you rested on his back, a wave of relief flowing through you.
"Lucky bastard." Kaneko lightly snickered, looking up at you with equally tired eyes as you hummed, not enough energy to say anything more.
You glanced to the side, walking down the ever familiar paths of Itachiyama towards the cafeteria, catching a small whiff of what you'd hoped to be dinner.
"I'm tired." You mumbled, hiding your face behind your arms as you blocked out the rays of the sunset blinding you occasionally.
"Don't fall asleep Y/N-chan, we're almost-" Ushijima began, stopping when he heard your faint snoring, your body finally loosening up as he glanced back at you.
He looked at Kaneko, nodding his eyes towards you as she stepped up, slightly raising your arms to see your face before softly letting it down.
She nodded. "She's asleep."
Ushijima's eyes widened, glancing back at you one more time before sighing. "She must've been really tired."
Kaneko hummed, nodding in agreement with him before raising a brow at the glances Ushijima was giving her.
"Do you have anything more to say Ushijima-san?"
Ushijima cleared his throat, slowly nodding before he quickly glanced around. "Does being on your period tire you out more?"
Kaneko processed his question for a couple seconds before softly nodding, a small smile forming on her lips.
"Well it can vary, since not everyone is the same, but I know Oikawa's tires her out faster, once she starts hers it's fairly obvious in the way her mood suddenly drops and she walks around as if fatigued."
Ushijima hummed, looking back forward before glancing back at Kaneko.
"Do you know how bad her cramps are?"
"Well sometimes she gets pretty bad ones, but she's told me she generally gets those lower body ones where it hurts to even move." Kaneko explained, yawning as the cafeteria building began to come into view.
"Is there anything we can give her for those... That isn't medicine?"
Kaneko lightly scratched her head thinking about it. "She drinks chamomile tea sometimes, she said something about Sakusa-san's mother giving her some leaves." She stretched her arms up, shrugging as she looked back up at Ushijima. "I've also heard Chinese herbs are pretty good for cramps."
Ushijima slowly nodded as Kaneko yawned, going over the conversation they just had before buffering.
"Ushijima-san?"
Ushijima hummed, glancing down at her as he lightly jumped up, readjusting you on his back.
"Why're you so interested in this? Women don't usually talk about their periods, much less with men, I mean... isn't it weird for you to listen to all this?"
Ushijima lightly shrugged as he looked back forward.
"Well, it's a topic I don't know much about, but it's not something that will disappear if I ignore it... plus, it's for Y/N-chan, I don't mind seeming weird in society's eyes if I can help her at least a little bit. Since she always seems to be in pain when she is on her period."
Kaneko slowly nodded, looking back forward as her and Ushijima both stopped a couple steps from the entrance to the cafeteria building. Promptly waking you up to follow them into the cafeteria, gleefully oblivious to the conversation they had just shared.
...
"The bracelet I gave you?" You repeated Suna's words, looking up at him nodding as he slumped down next to you.
"Remember how you gave the Miyas' handkerchiefs and me a bracelet?"
You hummed, letting Suna rest his head on your shoulder as he continued. "It broke."
"Well I'm surprised it lasted you almost a year, Rinny, those string bracelets don't really last long, even if it was in a kumihimo pattern." You consoled, glancing at him shrug as he sat up again.
"We can buy matching bracelets, but like gold or silver bracelets, something that'll last long, you know?"
You lightly giggled in response as you smiled up at him. "Yea well what makes you think we'll be able to afford some good and expensive bracelets?"
"Aren't you rich?"
You blinked up at him, raising both brows before moving so you were resting your chin on your palm. "What makes you say that?"
"I've seen your grandmother's house, if hers looks like that, yours must be ten times more extravagant."
You puffed out a laugh, softly shaking your head as you gave him a small smile.
"Wow, you're even using big words now, you're a changed man aren't you?"
"Don't change the subject." Suna said, rolling his eyes as he slid further down the wall.
"Well what makes you think Baba's money is connected to ours? My Jiji was a pretty wealthy man back in his day, you know?" You revealed, smiling softly at him as he stifled a laugh.
"Well then, that means you're rich off of old money."
"My grandparents aren't that old." You retorted, giving him a sly smirk as he rolled his eyes again. "What does my family's economic status have to do with this though? Would you like me more if I were rich?"
Suna shrugged, leaning in to boop your nose with nose. "I mean, I'd rather be happy and rich than happy and poor."
"How materialistic of you."
...
"You know." You mumbled, lifting your hand so it made streaks of the moonlight shining into the classroom. "I'm not sleepy."
"Shut up, Oikawa." Mori grumbled, half asleep as she reached over to drop a pillow on your face, covering your face as you sighed. You waited a couple seconds before slowly moving the pillow down, glancing towards Mori to see her back asleep, her hand still resting on the pillow on your chest that you carefully moved.
You hummed in content once you had moved her hand away, laying back down so you were staring up at the ceiling.
This sucks
You sighed to yourself, turning to your side to look at Kaneko, who was also in deep sleep before sighing again.
You turned to look back at the ceiling, putting your hand up again as you slowly moved it in different directions, seeing the moonlight adorn it in different manners.
"..."
"Mamma! Mamma, look!"
You ran outside, the pitter patter of your little feet on the engawa and the small gasps of your parents flowing through the night's wind.
"Y/N!" Your mother said, quickly picking you up as she dusted off the bottom of your feet. "Don't step outside without shoes, you'll get sick."
You brightly giggled up at her, softly nodding before looking back at your father coming outside with a blanket in his arms. He smiled down at you, opening and closing his hand as you copied his moves, giggling with him before he set the blanket across your mother's shoulders, helping her cover both herself and you in her arms.
"Mamma, when will the koi turn into a dragon?" You asked, pointing at the pond in the backyard where the koi fish gracefully swam.
"I saw Sunny trying to go up the waterfall!" You exclaimed, pointing at the koi fish with bright yellow colors, as well as the automatic waterfall set up on one side of the pond.
"They have to climb the falls at the Dragon Gate on the Yellow River, little bunny, even if they reach the top of this waterfall they won't turn into dragons." Your father explained, reaching up to pull your dirty fingers out of your mouth. You gasped, both your mother and father looking at you with a raised brow.
"So does that mean they're gonna die like samurai?!"
Your parents puffed out a small laugh, shaking their heads as your mother softly patted your head.
"No... there isn't anyone here who would want to eat them, so there's no one who would catch them."
You hummed, glancing down at the dancing koi, the moonlight reflecting off the pond water and illuminating your curious faces.
"Can I be a dragon if I climb the waterfall?" You asked, shifting your head back and forth to see the light in different directions.
"You don't have to climb a waterfall to be a dragon, bunny."
You tilted your head, looking up at your mother as she softly smiled at you.
"Dragons are beautiful, wise, successful, and strong creatures, and we're sure you'll grow up to be just that." She explained, leaning down to softly rub the tip of her nose against yours before you giggled and leaned back, looking up at her with a goofy smile. "So don't worry about climbing a waterfall and just be you." She emphasized, smiling brightly at you as you nodded eagerly, looking back down at the pond.
The reflecting moonlight flashed into your eyes, strong, but not enough to stop you from seeing the koi swimming near the top of the water, their different colored scales shining under the light.
You stretched your hand out, your fingers cracking the reflection of light into many slivers as you let out a sigh in amazement, your parents laughing softly before clearing their throats.
"Let's go back in now, little bunny, it's past your bedtime."
Your mother hummed, softly kissing your forehead before leaning back to smile at you. "Your Nii-chan and Nee-chan are already asleep, aren't you sleepy?"
You slowly nodded as your mother readjusted you in her hold, letting you place your chin on her shoulder as you wrapped your little arms around her neck.
You glanced back at the pond, smiling softly as you saw a pair of koi jump slightly out the water, as if seeing you off.
You waved at the fish, watching them splash back into the water as the moonlight made each water droplet shine like diamonds. The last thing you managed to catch before disappearing into the tea room was the form of a dragon being created by the droplets.
You sighed, bringing your arm down to cover your eyes with.
"I just hope..."
You began.
"Tomorrow isn't as shitty as today."
You mumbled, slowly losing yourself in the darkness of your closed eyes, the last memory you managed to register being that of your parents' soft smiles.
"Good night, my little dragon bunny."
__
Thank you for reading and like always, thanks to shawty bae Sarah for proofreading this chapter! < 33
https://bananabossbitch.tumblr.com/
Happy holidays to all of you who celebrate them and to those who don't, keep being awesome! <3