Chasing The Moon

Chapter 32

~~~~~

What am I doing 😀

Also...fluff? Maybe? Fluff and angst mix? Hm 😏

~~~~~

"Looks like Tadashi's finally back!" the teacher says unenthusiastically, all eyes in the classroom turning to face me. I was still clinging to Kei's back, although not caring how I appeared to them. Kei directed us to our usual seats, the ones I surprisingly missed. He let me sit next to the window this time, shielding me from the rest of my classmates.

I leaned over to him, staring at the board in front of us, "What are we working on?" He stares at his bag for a second before pulling out a sheet of paper, covered from front to back in notes from the past week, sliding it over to me. We both locked eyes for a second before focusing back on the teacher, a small smile spread across my face. He had taken notes for me for every day I was gone, and it was enough to bring tears to my eyes, blinking them away.

~~~~~

It all felt so new to me.

I stood in front of the gym doors, the rough concrete under my feet scraping with every step I took. The metal plates that separated me from the other teammates were right there, only one singular movement for that bond that I had lost these past few weeks to possibly be recreated.

Kei laid a hand on my back, my sight wandering from the silver of the doors to the eyes that were encouraging me to move forward. I smiled with a sigh, eyes scrunching up at the sides, reaching out to the handle. As the frostbitten metal ran against my fingers while I pulled the sections apart, another force mixed with mine, making me shocked at how easy they moved. I was met by Suga's grey hair and soft smile, one that strangely dropped once he locked eyes with me. He raised an eyebrow, then his eyes widening before he threw his arms around me, my feet stumbling under one another.

"Where have you been Yamaguchi?! We were all so worried about you! It really hasn't been the same since you were gone."

Kei walked away into the gym, Suga pulling himself away with both hands gripped to the side of my arms. Not the same? I really wasn't that much of a complement to the te-

"Yamaguchi! Dude! So great to see you're face again! Even if it does look completely worn down," Nishinoya shouts from behind Suga, squinty his eyes while getting close to my face, "Have you been eating!? I tell you that you have to eat more!"

Suga pushes him away, shoving him back through the doors and slamming it behind him, leaving the both of us out in the cold. The breeze nipped at my cheeks, both of our hair swaying in the wind in sync. He smiled at me, moving down from the steps to lay a hand on my shoulder.

"Are you doing alright? Even though he could have said it better, you do look tired. Are you going to be okay to practice today?"

I stared at our matching volleyball shoes for a while, fiddling with my fingers inside of my coat pockets.

"I'm not entirely sure...I might be alright, but I'll tell you if I need to sit out."

"Okay, well I won't make you change out if you think you'll be too tired."

He nodded, retaining from asking any more questions and opening the doors back up, pausing so I could follow him. We were both met by the chaos created by the other first years and the obvious two second years. Kei sat with his arms folded on one side of the net while Hinata and Kageyama threw balls at each other, Noya and Tanaka following Kiyoko around like some lost puppies. Suga and Daichi met eyes with each other before nodding, splitting off to the two groups of boys.

Suga caught a ball in the air and stood in between the freaks twins, giving Hinata a stern look before motioning his head towards me. They both turned at the same time, locking eyes with each other.

Daichi grabbed Tanaka and Noya by the rim of their shirts so Kiyoko could get away, dragging them both over to Suga while they pouted. Then, Kei moved over to them, huddling into a group conversation that I couldn't quite hear from where I was. As I watched from the sidelines, they all ran into the storage room, making me raise an eyebrow.

Hinata and Noya came out together, both holding a long pole under their arms. The rest of them followed, standing in front of me and lining up on each side of it. The team flag? Why did they have it out?

On a count of three they all unraveled it, boasting a sign that stretched to their feet reading;

'Welcome Back Tadashi'

In big bold letters. Hinata peeked his head out from under it and slid around to the front, waving his hands in the air towards it as if I couldn't see, making me giggle. Kei was already tall enough to see from the top, fixing his glasses and giving me a small smile. They all raised it down a little so Daichi could talk, closing his eyes with a smile.

"We're really glad to have you back Yamaguchi. To say we missed you is really an understatement because you're such a big aspect of this team, and even if you weren't, we're your friends and we care about you," he spoke, slowly opening his eyes, "So like we sai- Why are you crying!?"

Hinata ran over and tackled me with a hug, joined by Noya and Tanaka, all of their weight making me stumble under my feet. Suga, although seemingly calm yet just as chaotic as the rest, ran over right after.

This time, I couldn't keep my balance and tipped over, all of us tumbling to the ground in a fit of laughter, tears streaming down the side of my cheeks.

Hinata sat up while Tanaka roughed up my hair, us all a mess of limbs, and it almost seemed like we were the only ones there for a while, me being completely unaware of the pain in my body. I was too happy. I peered up to see Kei standing above us, holding a hand out for me. We all went quite as I took his hand, the three boys moving over to the rest of the group, watching us silently.

He tugged me up with him, embracing me in a tight hug. I tucked my head into his chest, the cotton of his shirt rubbing against my cheek. I could feel his cold fingers running up and down my back, gripping me harder every time they made their way back up. He pulled me away by my shoulders, smiling at me through happy eyes.

Wiping away a tear from my cheeks, the rest of my team all stood behind him, Daichi placing a hand on Kei's arm. I could see his expression change from our moment being interrupted, but I giggled, thrilled to have the team back.

"Alright, let's get back to practice. We can talk to Yamaguchi some more afterward," Suga announced, the three quite second years all running to put everything up.

~~~~~

"Yamaguchi."

I turned around to see my captain running up to me, catching his breath after running our usual laps.

"How are you doing? I noticed you were a bit more fatigued than usual today."

I looked down at my feet, rubbing my thumbs along my faded cut on my right hand.

"I'm okay. It's just been a rough few weeks," I smiled, shrugging my shoulders. He sat a hand on my shoulder, as usual, leading me off to the gym room. I was pretty sure that was his signature move at this point. I looked back behind me to see Kei being bugged by Kageyama, something about him not trying whenever he tossed a ball to him. Kei folded his arms and rolled his eyes, making Kageyama even madder. I grinned, turning back to face the doors in front of me.

This was nice.

~~~~~

Its literally 4 am :)

~~~~~