Akaashi's 18th (and the events that followed...)

35. Clouded Moon

Yamaguchi clutched his stomach as he stepped into the college gym. Baka. He'd been there so many times before, to go swimming, work out or play tennis in their outdoor courts.

What he had never done before was play volleyball with a college team. "Tadashi!" Yamaguchi turned his head. "Come finish the warm up with us!"

"Just coming!" He called to Akiteru, dropping his bag next to Tsukishima's and joining in the circle of stretching.

"This is Kei's friend, Yamaguchi Tadashi," Akiteru introduced to the college team members.

Yamaguchi received a series of nods and quick half-smiles, as everyone was halfway through a stretch.

"I hope it's alright, me being here," he added.

"Of course!" The group chorused.

"Thank you for having me!" Yamaguchi bowed, before resuming his stretches.

The college men chuckled. "We're glad to have you," came one of the taller, more muscled men. "I'm Nakamura Kenji, the captain," he added with a bow. "Right, everyone, let's set up."

"Hai!" Yamaguchi rushed to help the others. Nakamura-senpai followed him towards the net, taking the other end and helping him to unravel it.

"Is it alright if I call you Tadashi?"

"Of course, Nakamura-senpai," Yamaguchi replied hastily.

"Heh, just call me Kenji," the captain replied.

"My first captain also wanted our team to call him by his first name too," Yamaguchi muttered inadvertently.

"Perhaps it's about not putting yourself on a high pedestal, not many people like that, especially around their close friends," Kenji replied. "I'm very close with the people on my team, and they already respect me enough to be able to get rid of honorifics. I think it's better that way, but only if you know for certain that you have the utter respect of the team." He paused, as though choosing his next words carefully. "It must be hard, sometimes, having one of your close friends on the team."

"Eh, not really," Yamaguchi replied, conscious of a cold presence that had walked up behind him. "I'm close with most of the team, but I don't let that get in the way of my decisions."

"I'm sure you're a great captain," Kenji said, a warm smile broadening on his face.

"Arigatō," Yamaguchi beamed, before the cold presence became a physical one, and a cough interrupted him.

"We're finished setting up," Tsukishima said bluntly, handing Yamaguchi a yellow bib.

Yamaguchi stood at the server's line, knees shaking. Tsukishima stood only a few metres in front of him, covering the back of his neck with his hands. Arriving late, Yamaguchi hadn't had the time to warm up properly, and a cold sweat began to run down his legs.

Shuddering slightly, he jerked out of his thoughts and focussed on the hazy line of the net. Kuso! He always felt like this when he was about to fail a serve. Well, the least he could do is try. He went for a simple float-serve, no jumping involved until he had been in-game for longer and warmed up properly.

The ball flew into the air, and Yamaguchi's limbs moved almost on their own. Were it not for the split second of hesitation, it would have been perfect. However, the ball fell short just before it crossed the net, falling flatly on the gym floor.

He felt his face heat up as a few sniggers from the college men made their way to his ears. Their faces blurred as his eyes filled up with a little too much water, threatening to spill onto his bib.