Moonlight

Chapter 24

"Don't act all cool, you tardy test flunkers!"

Kageyama and Hinata stiffened at the unbelievable pressure emitted off by their senior. They arrived just in time with the help of Tanaka's sister, thankfully Hinata didn't throw up along the way or it would have slowed them down.

Takeda, sitting on the bench, noticed their coach anxiously bouncing his leg with his arms closed tighter than usual. 

"Is something the matter, Ukai-kun?"

Keishin broke down and flailed his arms, "I can't find Akane everywhere! I can't even find my phone!"

Takeda's eyes widened and realized he didn't see her until she was mentioned. 

He consoled him, "Pull yourself together now, you're the coach here. If anything, we can ask Ennoshita to look for her? Maybe she has wandered around aimlessly. I'll give your phone a call right now, try hearing out from your bag."

Takeda did as he promised and had Ennoshita look for Akane and to switch back with someone else every 5 minutes. This was done to make sure they won't feel like being left out on purpose of looking for Akane. 

"Ukai-kun, it's ringing..." Takeda pointed at his phone. Keishin grimly nodded and listened everywhere. He heard the ringing on another bag and grabbed it open hastily. 

The practice game ended when Keishin found his phone. It was in Akane's bag. Both of them sported a black duffle bag with Akane's having a slight green line along the zipper. 

Ennoshita ran to his coach and shook his head, "None of us found her anywhere, coach. We're sorry..."

"Found it!" Keishin exclaimed and unlocked his phone right away, "Crap!"

Kiyoko filled in the players on what happened, "Akane is nowhere to be found and Coach Ukai just found his phone right now. We're still trying to figure out where she is..."

Tsukishima's face drew a serious look as he flung his towel over his shoulder and walked away. He was stopped when he heard his coach say, 

"She was in Karasuno when we left! Ah how could I not notice it!"

Chills ran their backs as they all thought together, 'How could we not notice it?'

Forgetting about their hunger and tiredness, they all broke out into small groups and went around the school ground calling her name. The other teams were confused at their actions but were too busy in doing their drills and keeping the equipment to care. The managers were able to gather back the Karasuno team into the cafeteria with the invitation of dinner.

Keishin dropped down like dead weight on his seat, "Maybe she's decided to stay home."

Takeda shook his head, "No, apparently she asked Oona-sensei how to get here... Let's hope she's not lost..."

Everyone else was busy tinkering with their phones as they try to establish contact with Akane. Their food remained untouched which concerned the coach of Nekoma.

"Is there a problem with our food, sensei?" He asked, approaching the team's instructor. Takeda shook his head apologetically and relayed what happened. 

"Ohh? We have no reports of a lost---" He was interrupted when a certain Kuroo spoke across the room.

"Excuse me, may I have your attention? Thank you! So apparently earlier, there was a person who fainted and these guys-" He paused to point at the persons beside him who were both sporting an embarrassed flush on their faces, "-were witnesses of that. We have found no ID on their body, no uniform logo, and their phone was drained out."

Bokuto also stood up in his seat, "Yeah! Akaashi here asked her is if she was lost and then she fainted. She reached out to Lev and tried to say something though..."

 Lev, the tallest guy of the group, nodded his head. He had similar hair color as Sugawara. Despite his height, he acted timid as he was suddenly shoved into the limelight.

"Y-yeah, she tried to say Suga."

Kuroo gave a lazy smirk and threw his arm around Lev, "So yeah, if there's any 'Suga' around here, I guess that person belongs to your nest. She's still in the infirmary though."

The Karasuno team looked at each other as they tried to fix the puzzle in their heads. 

"Suga---wara?" Daichi trailed off and not long before he could affirm his answer, everyone left in a rush. 

Keishin ran with tears pricking his eyes. He had been careless before but he cannot allow himself to be this kind of careless.

Takeda followed closely with a brisk walk and thought, 'Of course she would associate Sugawara to that guy. They had the same hair color.'

"Tsukishima??" Everyone stopped in their tracks as they saw the moonlit-haired lad leaning against the infirmary walls. He already understood everything  just before they could give out her clue so he rushed to confirm his answer. 

Relief flooded in their hearts as they saw Akane sleeping peacefully. Keishin continuously thanked the clinic nurse as the rest of his crows flocked around their sleeping princess. Tsukishima's observant eyes raked over her body and felt himself clench at the sight of scratch marks just above her elbow. 

'Something happened...' He thought and just as he finished his assessment over her physical appearance, Akane's eyes fluttered open. 

"Give her space." The nurse said and assisted her to sit up. Her eyes welled up at the sight of her friends. Her lips quivered and she involuntarily whimpered when her eyes rested on Keishin who immediately enveloped her in a hug.  She returned the hug with a tighter embrace and buried her face at his shoulder. Keishin could only rock her back and forth, whispering his apologies.

Takeda approached the two and laid a gentle hand on Akane's head, "Come, you must be hungry."

Keishin used his calloused hands to wipe away Akane's tears with a sad smile, "We're having curry."

Akane silently agreed with a nod and after mumbling her thanks to the clinic nurse, they made their way back to the now turning-empty cafeteria. There were still people working in the kitchen. Their table was left untouched, albeit covered.

"I've told them to keep it up until you guys finish your dinner." The coach from Nekoma approached the team and his eyes met with Akane, "I'm glad you found your hatchling."

"Thank you for your hospitality, sensei." Takeda bowed and was followed by the rest of the team.

"Bah! It's nothing, go get your fills. We have a long day tomorrow." The old man left them to eat.

Akane was a bit unsure on what to feel now that she's within the comfort of her friends. Her mind juggled different outcomes to different approaches she could do. Keishin noticed her chopsticks remained mid-air and assumed that she was going deep into her mind again.

"First task onhand is to eat. After that, we'll do the next one." He said, patting her head, "One step at a time, Akane."

She looked up at her uncle and smiled. Yes, first of it all, she has to eat. She's not at home to just decline dinners, anyway.

She scrunched her nose, "Of course, uncle!"

From the end of the table, Tsukishima was observing her actions. Though he was a bit cold when it comes to humans, he could see that she was holding back something else. Nishinoya noticed him staring at Akane, and elbowed Yamaguchi. A teasing bubble erupted from the mischievous senior. 

Getting the message, Yamaguchi smiled knowingly to himself.

'A Tsukki that cares! What a rare Pokemon haha!'