body ✁ haikyuu

↳˗ˏˋ eleven ˊˎ˗↴

———— THEY WERE SLIGHTLY WORRIED.

ushijima still hadn't returned.

"damn, how long does he take?" suna snorted.

"i feel like nothing phases him. we could be waiting for a while," hinata shrugged.

atsumu let out a lazy groan and leaned against the benches, "are ya sure we shouldn't go look for him?"

"ushi is perfectly capable of taking care of himself," bokuto pointed out.

"yeah, when it comes to volleyball. anything else and the man is nothing more than a shell of a human," yaku snickered, komori smacking the back of his head.

"put a little trust in the poor dude," komori shook his head, avoiding yaku's attempts to hit him back.

"so, how were your pictures?" a voice called out, the lot of them turning to see kuroo and iwaizumi making their way over. kuroo had worn a very polished looking suit, iwaizumi donning a less-formal, but still nice-looking, pair of pants and a team polo.

"fine, until ushijima ruined it," bokuto pouted, hinata patting his shoulder. "and then he got a major hard-on, so he went to the locker room."

"that went from zero to a hundred very quickly," iwaizumi blankly stated.

"where's [y/n]?" kuroo asked, glancing around to see if he could spot her amongst all the people now gathered in the gym. she was nowhere to be found.

"not sure, she bolted off after pictures were done. granted, she hasn't gotten a real break all day. maybe she went to the bathroom?" kageyama shrugged.

kuroo rested a hand on his hip, "i guess you're right; she barely got a chance to breathe before that photography assistant came and grabbed her from the cafeteria."

"shouldn't we be the least bit worried? what if she's passed out somewhere?" hinata brought up, aran smacking his shoulder. "what? it's a decent concern."

"she's fine, you idiots. like you all said, she's exhausted. she might've needed a second before she came back to this circus," aran gestured to the very-full gym.

"he has a point! besides, it's just [y/n]. where could she possibly have run off to-" suna slung an arm around aran, but was cut off by the sound of the gym doors opening.

the boys turned their attention, each developing a reaction that was inexplicable.

there [y/n] was, walking in with ushijima.

his usual straight-faced demeanor had faded into a permanent flush, and she looked as though she could play a hundred rounds of poker in caesar's palace.

it was kuroo who stared at the girl with the most intensity, scanning every inch of her, examining her. he noticed some minor things.

for starters, her clothes were slightly wrinkled. strands of her baby hairs stuck to her forehead, where a bit of sweat glistened at her hairline. her hands shook slightly, but from the mild strain in her left bicep, she was trying to control it. her lips looked a bit chapped. there was far-away, blank look in her eyes, but they also seemed to glisten, as if she had tears in them.

kuroo raised a brow, then turning his attention to ushijima, who simply looked flustered beyond compare. it didn't take long before something clicked in his mind, and his jaw dropped. "you've got to be fucking kidding me."

"what?" hinata asked.

"i'll be right back," he muttered in response, walking up to [y/n] and grabbing her wrist, dragging her towards the door once again. once it was shut and no one was in earshot, he looked at her. "what happened?" she simply shrugged, trying to loosen his grip on her, but it only tightened. "i can't help you if you don't tell me. once something gets out, it stays out."

the girl rolled her eyes in annoyance, taking a breath. "nothing happened, if that's what you're implying. i went to the bathroom to take a damn breather, and i ran into him on the way here. asked why he wasn't already in the gym, and i pried the answer out of him. nothing more."

"ushi, the hell took ya so long?" atsumu asked, elbowing him.

"couldn't figure it out," ushijima's voice scratched his throat. sakusa's eyes narrowed. he would find out later.

"what even made that happen?" iwaizumi asked.

"nothing important."

"obviously it was enough to do that much to you."

"i-"

"let's go, people! we don't have all day!" [y/n]'s voice boomed through a megaphone.

ushijima's eyes flickered towards her, and her eyes met his for a millisecond, that mischievous glint still there. she had looked away first, now hyper focused on the task at hand. his mind flashed back to barely fifteen minutes ago.

"well, aren't you going to need a little help with that?"

he blinked, unsure if he heard her properly. "i'm sorry?"

"do you want my assistance with your little issue- or, well, i guess not little..." she muttered that last little bit, shaking her head when she realized she was getting off track, "whatever. anyways, help or not?"

"i'm not sure?" he croaked. she moved closer to him, her hands moving dangerously close to his hips.

"well, we can either do this the easy way or the hard way. up to you."

"both sound like not a good idea," he quietly said, and she chuckled softly.

"oh, honey. nothing is ever a good idea with me."

"ushijima!"

he snapped out of his daze to see bokuto calling for him. it was the volleyball teams turn for their big photo. he moved robotically towards his spot, eyes following [y/n] as she ran over and touched up a few of the boys' uniforms, trying to make sure they were all lined up perfectly.

she brushed out the tiny wrinkles on ushijima's shoulders, her touch warm even through the shirt. he cleared his throat as quietly as possible, and [y/n] had stepped on his toes. his jaw tightened as he glanced down, seeing her wink at him before returning to behind the camera.

it was now that he realized what was happening.

the innocent girl had become a formidable opponent.

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