𝕀𝕟 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕂𝕚𝕟𝕘'𝕤 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕕𝕠𝕨 Tsukishima x Male Reader

Part 22: Neko-Nekoma

Eventually, it was the day of our practice match with Nekoma. I was excited, but I was also nervous. A day or two earlier, Coach Ukai had announced that Tobio would be the setter for rotations 1, 2 and 3, and then I would be the setter in rotations 4, 5 and 6. 

I assumed that I would be sitting out for most of the game, but instead I was going to be in as a setter. I was confused as to why I would be in as a setter instead of Sugawara, but I didn't ask the coach about it. 

That day, before we left to go and meet up with Nekoma at the gym, everyone went on a run around the town in order to, well, exercise. Of course, nothing can go fully smoothly with this group, and Hinata ended up getting lost along the way. We had gotten back to the gym, that was when everyone realized Hinata wasn't there. 

"Ah! Wait, where's Hinata?! Did that idiot manage to get lost?" Tobio seemed distressed at the thought of Hinata getting lost. 

"Good riddance..." Kei muttered. 

"Kei! Don't say that, what if he actually is lost? I hope he isn't hurt or anything." I pouted at Kei who apologized for what he said. 

"I'm sure he's alright, I'll go look for him now, if that will make everyone feel better." Sugawara offered. Everyone seemed as though they wanted Sugawara to go look for him, so Sugawara promptly left, tracing along the path to figure out where Hinata could have possibly wandered off to. 

Hinata and Sugawara eventually rejoined the group, and Tobio was the first one to rush over to Hinata. 

"Boke Hinata boke! You idiot! How could you get lost so easily?! I was worried about you, you know!" Tobio grabbed Hinata's shoulders and shook him back and forth.

Hinata laughed. "Don't worry about me Tobio! I'm alright. See?" Hinata smiled, and Tobio quickly engulfed him in a hug.

"Don't scare me like that, idiot..." Tobio mumbled, but I was barely able to hear it. 

"Well then, now that everyone's back together again, everyone grab your things and let's go!" Coach Ukai announced as everyone quickly got ready to go. 

Eventually, we made our way to the gym and met Nekoma's team in front of the gym. 

While we were walking, Kiyoko nudged my arm. I looked over to her, and she began to whisper something to me. "I can practically feel that guy over there staring at me. Do you think you could like- I don't know-" 

I nodded and smiled. I moved to the other side of her, blocking her from the weird boy's view, and I grabbed Kiyoko's hand. "There! Does that help at all?" 

"Yes, thank you." Kiyoko smiled at me, and the two of us walked to the gym with the rest of the team. Kiyoko looked down at my hand, and back up to my face. "Are you alright? You're gripping my hand really tightly, and you seem nervous." Kiyoko them mumbled, "I don't think there's any blood going to my hand right now..." 

"Oh!" I quickly let go of Kiyoko's hand, "Sorry, I didn't mean to do that. I guess I'm just a bit nervous." I laughed awkwardly, "wellnotreallyjustabitnervousbutreallynervouslikeIdonothinkI'mokayrightnow."

"Alright, I'm not fully sure what you just said, but you need to calm down. This is just a practice match and I'm sure you'll do great." Kiyoko smiled, and I felt my body relax slightly. 

"Wow, it's almost as if you're my older sister or something." I laughed, "Like seriously, you're like Miwa but nicer? Well I'm not sure how to put it exactly." 

"Miwa? Oh, do you have an older sister? I had no idea." Kiyoko said. By now the two of us, and the rest of the team, had gotten inside of the gym. 

"Yeah, I do. She's at college right now, but she doesn't live too far away." I paused for a moment to think. It had been a long time since I last saw Miwa, and ever since she went to college she didn't come home. "I think she might be graduating soon." 

Everyone was getting ready to begin the practice match when I felt a chill run down my spine. I could feel a few people staring at me. I turned around to see that the weird boy who was staring at Kiyoko earlier was glaring at me. It scared me, so I quickly turned back around and let out a small squeak. The strange boy from Nekoma looked oddly similar to Tanaka, but it almost looked as if he had a the bristles from a broom for hair. I also noticed a boy with bleached hair, and a particularly tall boy with messy black hair. 

We eventually started the practice match. I wasn't in at first, but I was able to sit on the bench and observe how Nekoma played. They had a strong blocker, a great setter, and an amazing libero. The other players were impressive as well, but those three stood out to me the most. 

I was swapped in and I tried my best, but a lot of my sets seemed to get blocked. We lost the first few games, but by the time we got to the last practice match, I had come up with a plan. The way their tall black haired blocker seemed to get to where he needed to be so fast was by read blocking. He would look at where he thought I would set and he would get there before someone on my team could hit. 

My plan was to fake him out. I would make it seem as though I was planning on setting to one side when in actuality I was going to set to the other. I managed to make it work one time, but I couldn't seem to get it down fast enough to win us the match. 

We didn't win any of the practice matches, but I had fun anyways. It was nice. I had been a lot happier recently than I had remembered being in years. Everything seemed to be changing for the better. 

...

But I couldn't shake this feeling of doom hanging over my head. 

Word Count: 1048