Shortcake(K. Tsukishima)

Part 14

You stared blankly at the boys in front of you. How long had they been there? Could they hear you while you were... you shook the thought out of your head and dropped Tsukishima's hand, which had been holding yours.

"Tsukki and (Y/N) sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-" Nishinoya started chanting with a laugh, but Tsukki walked up and smacked him on the head.

"Shut up." he mumbled, giving a sharp glare.

"Listen, it's not our fault you guys fuck so loudly," Tanaka chimed in. At that comment, you could feel your face turn as red as a tomato. So they had been there long enough to hear that. How nice. You noticed Tsukki's face turn a lighter shade of red as he glared at Tanaka. 

"C'mon (F/N) lets head to the gym," Tsukki turned and grabbed your hand, dragging you down the hallway and leaving the four confused boys in your wake. You shook yourself out of your stupor and decided it would be best to focus on the task at hand. Managing your team. You hurried off to the gym, already late, but luckily everyone was still doing warm ups. Tsukki joined the rest of the team and you joined Yachi and Kiyoko by the bench. 

"What took you so long?" Kiyoko asked as you approached.

"I, uh, got lost going to the restroom," you lied. She looked at you for a moment, clearly not believing it took you 20 minutes to find a restroom, but she didn't say anything. Instead, you decided to join Yachi in filling up the water bottles for the team. 

As you left the gym to the water filling station, you passed Tanaka and Noya, who were finally returning to the gym. You had seen Hinata and Kageyama walk in shortly after you and Tsukki. Luckily, they seemed to understand that since you kept your secret they would keep yours. Tanaka and Noya, however, would not likely pay the same courtesy. As they passed you and Yachi, they made exaggerated kissing noises and laughed as if it was the funniest thing in the world.

"What was that all about?" Yachi asked after they had passed. You considered her question. She was probably your closest friend, so maybe you could trust her with the secret. It's not like it would be a secret for much longer, anyways. 

"Um, actually... Tsukki and I are dating... and they kind of found out... because we might have been... uh," you looked at Yachi, not wanting to finish the sentence, but she stared right back, innocent eyes full of curiosity, "Well the reason I took so long is because Tsukki and I were having sex in a classroom." you blurted. You looked up from the floor to see her reaction, but she looked at her shoes before you could tell what she was thinking.

"I knew there was something between you two!" she exclaimed finally. "Although I didn't think it had gone quite so... far." You flushed red with embarrassment. It was true, your relationship had moved faster than you expected.

"Yeah well, Tanaka and Noya heard us, so the whole team will probably know soon enough," you said, filling up the water bottles. 

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Yachi reassured you, "everyone could kind of sense something was happening there." You sighed. That didn't exactly make you feel better. You finished filling up the water bottles in silence before returning to the gym. 

Soon after, the team began their practices, and it was immediately noticeable how far behind Karasuno was compared to the other teams. Where other teams seemed to move in sync, Karasuno was all over the place. What you lacked in consistency, however, the team tried to make up for in grit and attack power. Which gave you a fighting chance, but in the end, the team lost every game of the day. With every loss, the team ran hills, or did flying laps, wearing them out even more for the following games. It was an endless cycle of loss, but you could see them improve their teamwork with every play. Hinata and Kageyama were honing their improved quick attack, and Yamaguchi's pinch serves were becoming more successful. Asahi had grown out of his fear of walls and was blasting past blockers left and right. None of this helped your weak defense, though. Tsukki seemed out of it, missing blocks he could usually analyze with ease. And Noya could only do so much to make up for it. 

You helped Kiyoko keep detailed notes on all the players stats, seeing where each player needed improvement. They were all trying so hard, but there was always room for improvement. When you weren't doing that, you helped Yachi and Yams fill up the water bottles. The boys were exhausted and the least you could do was ensure they didn't die of dehydration. After several losses, it was time to break for dinner. Most of the players stuck around to get in some practice before food was served, but you watched Tsukki leave almost immediately. You glanced over at Yachi to ask her if she could survive without you for a moment, but she was already half pushing you to follow Tsukki. 

"Hey Tsukki," you said, jogging to catch up to him. He slowed for you to catch up, his stoic face softening a bit.

"Hey, Shortcake," he replied, planting a soft kiss on your forehead after making sure noone else was around to see.

"How do you feel, it's been a long day," you asked. He had been playing poorly all day, but you didn't want to say it outright.

"Yeah, I'm tired. Glad the day is over," he said plainly. You thought back to the rest of the team, still working hard in the gym before dinner was served.

"You sure you don't want to practice with the other boys before dinner?" You asked. At the question, he gave you a slight glare, and you could tell that was the wrong thing to say.

"I'm not going to kill myself for some practice matches. I need to rest," he didn't look you in the eyes, and the air around suddenly became tense.

"Well, I noticed you weren't playing 100%, so I just figured there may be something you wanted to work on," you pointed out gently.

"I played fine," he replied, not looking you eyes, so you knew he recognized his poor performance, "besides, its just a club it doesn't matter how we play in some stupid practice matches." You looked up at him, unsure what to say next. You opened your mouth to say something, but were quickly cut off by a familiar voice behind you.

"F/N! Ah who's this? You replaced me already? I thought I was your favorite boy-friend," Atsumu said with a pout, slinging and arm around your shoulder.

"Oh Atsumu, this is-" you began, but Tsukki was already walking away towards the showers, "Tsukki," you finished quietly. Atsumu shrugged at Tsukki's weird behavior and gathered you up in a close hug. 

"Its been too long," he smiled, "tell me what you've been up to!" You looked over to Tsukki, disappearing in the distance, and back to Atsumu's smiling face. You sighed and began telling Atsumu everything from the last few years, and it was like you had never left. It was nice having your best friend again, you thought, and you quickly forgot about the weird interaction with Tsukki.