A/N: Sorry for the delay everyone! I've been rlly busy and I've got exams coming up so updates may be slow ;-;
I'll try and update as frequently as I can, but I'm sure they'll still be quite slow.
Feel free to critique my writing! I'm open to ways where/how I can improve my writing!
(H/c) - hair colour
(E/c) - eye colour
(S/c) - skin colour
(R/n) - random name
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• twenty-one •
“Daichi...?” Tanaka let out as he looked down at the captain that had been knocked out from their sudden collision.
(m/n) quickly rushed onto the court and light shook Daichi, “Dai-chin!” He exclaimed with worry settling into the pit of his stomach. Daichi groaned and slowly opened his eyes much to (m/n)’s relief. “Are you okay? Where are we right now and which team are we playing?” He asked.
Daichi clutched his head, the pain and throbbing showing no signs of decreasing, he looked up at (m/n), “I-I’m fine… we’re at Sendai City gymnasium… a-against Wakunan,” he answered, “I’m fine! It was just a collision!”
(m/n) helped Daichi up and turned to the coach and Takeda, “blood!” Kiyoko exclaimed as she held a tissue to his lip as began letting out blood.
Daichi grabbed the tissue and covered it, suddenly spitting out a tooth.
“A-A tooth?!” (m/n), Yamaguchi and Hinata exclaimed, shuddering at the small tooth in Daichi’s hand.
“I’ll take him to the—”
“Wait Kiyo-chin! I can take him!” (m/n) volunteered, abruptly interrupting the blackette mid-sentence.
“Wait, but we need to substitute you?” Asahi exclaimed but the slightly shorter male merely smiled and shook his head.
“I’ve had my turn, besides… they have their own sense of pride, I can’t just hog it all, you know?” (m/n) grinned and escorted Daichi to the infirmary, leaving the rest of the team in confusion. Meanwhile, Ennoshita couldn’t help but smile as he walked onto the court.
I won’t let you down, (m/n)! Ennoshita thought.
“Oi! Nishinoya where are you going?” Tanaka called out to the libero who was attempting to sneak away from the game, catching the undivided attention of the team.
“Uh… the bathroom…??” Nishinoya answered, sweating bullets.
“Yes, and Hinata doesn’t have bowel issues,” Ennoshita smiled threateningly, making Nishinoya jump and Hinata confused at the sudden mention of his name in their conversation, “now get back on the court! And Tanaka!”
“Y-Yes sir…!” Tanaka yelped.
“Stop blaming yourself! It was an accident! Asahi-san if you would please!” Ennoshita bowed as he moved to the side for Asahi to take his spotlight.
“Daichi will be alright, he’s a tough guy so in other words… we’re so glad that you didn’t get hurt Tanaka!” Asahi stiffly stated. Ennoshita stood beside the taller male, nodding his head vigorously at the third-year’s statement.
“Alright, now off you go! On the court, come on!” Ennoshita ushered the baffled buzz-cut male, with the other’s welcoming and reassuring Ennoshita and Tanaka.
Sugawara smiled at his kouhai’s work at settling the team down. He sure can maintain them well! I wonder how (m/n) is doing? Sugawara thought but pushed the thought to the back of his mind, deciding to let the two be.
_____
“(m/n) … you can stop constantly inspecting me, you know?” Daichi asked, his voice muffled by the tissue he held close to his mouth.
The second year flinched and backed away from his upperclassmen, “s-sorry…” he muttered, sheepishly scratching the back of his head.
Daichi chuckled and shook his head, “it’s alright, I know you’re worried.” He stated and came to a stop when they had arrived at the infirmary. (m/n) quickly opened the door for his Captain and allowed him to enter first, before entering after him.
“Ah, please sit down…!” The doctor immediately stated, already taking notice of the huge bruise on Daichi’s face and the tissues he had to cover his mouth. “I’ll quickly run some check-ups on you, you there! Can you get an ice pack from the freezer?”
(m/n) nodded and waltzed over to the freezer beside the doctors’ desk, taking out a small icepack. He walked back and handed it over to the doctor. After running a few checks on Daichi’s condition, he had him place the icepack on his cheek before running over to the cabinets by his desk to get some painkillers.
“How are you feeling?” (m/n) asked, sitting beside Daichi.
“A little sore, the icepack is helping numb the pain on my cheek though.” Daichi explained.
(m/n) released a sigh of relief and looked down, “I thought you died, you were lying on the floor basically motionless…!” He exclaimed making Daichi chuckle at the second years’ interpretation of his previous situation.
“Don’t worry, I won’t die… yet, to say the least.” Daichi concluded, patting (m/n)’s shoulder in a reassuring manner. The doctor then came back with some pain killers and a bottle of water, he handed the medicine and beverage to the captain. “Thank you.” Daichi smiled and took the medicine and chugging the water.
“All good?” (m/n) asked.
“Yeah, you can head back now—“
“No! I don’t want to leave you alone,” (m/n) puffed his cheeks and crossed his arms, “I can tell that you’re angry… having to leave the court and leaving the team behind to get treated… I know how you feel and… it’s okay to feel that way… although I have no right to speak that now since I’ve only learned to feel this way and that it’s okay. Besides, your health comes first!”
Daichi stared at (m/n) and smiled, ruffling his soft silking (h/c) hair, “thank you,” (m/n) he softly smiled, “I needed that…”
“No problem!” (m/n) beamed, “you want to go and get something to eat…? Maybe go and watch the rest of the match?”
Daichi nodded, “alright but you’re paying.” He concluded.
“Alright that’s fair, let’s go!” (m/n) grinned, grabbing Daichi’s free hand and leading him out of the gymnasium. The two briskly walked down the road to find a convenience store, purchasing whatever they wanted and needed, still in hand in hand.
“Oh! What a lovely couple, just this?” The old lady at the counter asked, smiling.
The two blushed at the comment made by the elder and shook their heads.
“W-We’re not… um… sorry you’ve m-misunderstood…!” (m/n) attempted to reason, turning to Daichi his eyes pleading to help him clear up the misunderstanding, but the black-haired male was too stunned to speak, the blush on his face only increasing and getting darker. (m/n) did have to admit though, Daichi looked a little adorable in his current state.
(A/N: Your gay is showing-)
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” the old lady bowed and handed their stuff in a plastic bag as well as some change, “have a nice day!”
“Thanks!” (m/n) grinned and guided Daichi out of the store, “Dai-chin~ snap out of it! You can daydream about me later, okay? We gotta head back before the end of the game, otherwise the team will be worried.”
Daichi’s blush deepened, and he nodded, stuttering out a response that (m/n) assumed was an agreement to his statement. (m/n) chuckled and the two walked back to the gym.
“I’m going to quickly get another drink from the vending machine, can you head out before me…?” (m/n) asked, letting go of Daichi’s hand much to the older male’s disappointment.
“Yeah, I’ll see you back at the stands, okay?” Daichi asked.
“Yeah!” (m/n) grinned and hurried to the vending machine to look for a chocolate milk drink, despite having finished his previous one five minutes ago. As he stood before the machine, he peered at each drink carefully and came across his favourite drink. He was just about to insert his money and choose his drink when, suddenly, someone came in and did it before him. “Hey! I was here first!” (m/n) exclaimed, turning to the stranger.
“Ah! Sorry, sorry! I thought you were still picking!” The teen spoke and hurriedly chose his drink.
“Nah, it’s fine. My fault for just standing in front of the vending machine.” (m/n) sheepishly chuckled and chose his drink, already devouring it as soon as he took it out.
“Oi! Shittykawa! Hurry up!” A voice echoed throughout the hallway, startling the teen.
“That’s so mean Iwa-chan!” Oikawa whined and turned to (m/n), “I’ll see you later! Don’t be a stranger~”
(m/n) cocked an eyebrow at the brunet’s statement as he watched him walk off with his friend, watching him get a scolding from him. (m/n) pursed his lips and shrugged it off. He made his way back to the seats, finding Daichi already digging in, into his sandwich and cold beverage.
“Hey, what took you so long?” Daichi asked, handing (m/n)’s meat buns.
“Sorry, I ran into a… flamboyant weirdo.” (m/n) answered, earning a confused gaze from the third year beside him.
_____
“We won!!” Hinata and Nishinoya yelled in unison as they threw their arms up, celebrating with the team before Ennoshita dragged them to the baseline to show their gratitude for the match.
After the teams shook hand, the team walked over to their bench and packed their things up. Ennoshita raised his head and noticed Daichi and (m/n) greeting them with wide smiles.
“You guys were amazing!” (m/n) grinned, running over to Nishinoya and gave him a high-five, as well as Tanaka and Hinata. (m/n) looked over to Kageyama who propped his hands up in an awkward manner for a double high-five, (m/n) chuckled and gave the raven head a strong double high-five, turning Kageyama’s hands red. “Chika-chin!”
Ennoshita turned to his fellow second year and earned a hug from him, surprising not only him but the rest of the team.
“You were amazing out there!!” (m/n) beamed as Daichi stood beside (m/n).
“Yeah, you handled the team really well and you even came up with a plan and carried it on,” Daichi mentioned, “you did an amazing job!”
Ennoshita blushed at the sudden spurt of compliments from the two and couldn’t help but feel a little elated from their comments. His worries and blames from earlier washed away and he gave them a big grin.
“Thanks!” He exclaimed.
The team turned to head off the courts, the team conversed with each other, except for Yamaguchi who stayed behind. His fears gripping his arms back and the blame inside him grew. (m/n) noticed this, and intentionally let his walking-pace slow down to match the green haired teens’.
“Tada-chin, you okay?” (m/n) asked, gently placing a hand on Yamaguchi’s back in a comforting manner.
Yamaguchi pursed his lips and kept his eyes glued to the floor, “I… I ran away…” he whispered, “I thought that I could do it… but the match against… against Aoba Johsai came up… and it spooked me to the core… I ran away…”
(m/n) frowned and stared down at the ground as well, “running away… can sometimes be a good thing, you know?” (m/n) started, “it can make you realize your fears and see what you need to do in order to overcome those fears… it’s up to you though.”
“Up to me…?” Yamaguchi asked, staring at the older male in confusion.
“It’s up to you if you want to keep running or… face your fears once more, once you practice even more! Say to your fears “I’m not weak!”” (m/n) exclaimed making Yamaguchi chuckle, “remember, not everything will always work out the first time and if it doesn’t just work on it and don’t let your fears control you.”
Yamaguchi stared at his upperclassmen as (m/n) walked over to Tanaka who was apologizing to Daichi for the umpteenth time. Yamaguchi looked down at his hands and took a deep breath.
“Sorry,” he spoke up, catching the other first years’ attention, “I’m going to the bathroom for a bit.”
With that, Yamaguchi took off, leaving Kageyama and Hinata to fight over between vulgarity and the polite way of saying “poop”.