Under the Stars

Chapter #1: When the City Sleeps

Beep beep beep

Tsukshima groans as his blaring alarm clock rouses him from sleep. He reaches over to his bedside table and clumsily smacks the 'off' button, grabs his glasses and lays in bed for a few more minutes, giving his body time to wake up.

It's the early morning of the first Monday of July. The Karasuno volleyball team is departing for a week long training camp in Saitama. A training camp that he had no interest in attending, but since he's on the team's starting lineup, he didn't exactly have the choice to stay home. Plus, his best friend would be remarkably disappointed - and probably somewhat lonely - if he bailed out at the last second. Swallowing his indifference, he forces himself out of bed and prepares to leave for school. The team had a weekend long camp in Tokyo just over 2 weeks ago, so he already has an idea about how this week will go.

His older brother, Akiteru, agreed to drive him to school, since the team would be travelling together by bus from there. By the time Tsukishima is ready, his older brother and mother are already waiting for him at the front door.

"Are you ready to go?" he asks his younger brother.

"Yeah, let's go," Tsukishima replies as he grabs his duffel bag and starts heading out the door.

"Wait, Kei!" Mrs. Tsukishima calls out to her son. He turns around, "Have fun at camp, and get to bed at a decent time!" she says.

Tsukishima nods, "Goodbye, Okaasan," his response accompanied by a wave. He's never been one for emotional greetings or farewells.

Akiteru bids his mother goodbye, assuring her that Kei will do just fine in Saitama, and heads out the door after his younger brother. The drive is mostly silent, other than Akiteru double checking that Kei has everything he needs.

"Do you have your volleyball shoes?"

"Yes."

...

"Do you have your jersey?"

"Coach Ukai told us we didn't need them."

...

"Do you have yo-"

"I've got everything I need, alright?" Tsukishima spits out a bit more aggressively than originally intended, the early morning making him short-tempered and impatient.

Akiteru stares ahead at the dimly lit roadway and takes a deep breath. "I'm just worried about you Kei," he can practically hear his younger brother roll his eyes. "No seriously," he continues, "I'm worried that you're not going to enjoy it, or be friendly to the other teams. I just want you to have fun, okay?"

Tsukishima looks at his brother, "Oniisan, I'm going to be fine, it's not like I'm really going to be talking to the other teams anyway. Plus, I've already met some of them at the last camp."

"It's not just that," Akiteru says, "this is gonna sound stupid but, I'm worried about you making friends."

Tsukishima actually laughs.

"I'm being serious. I worry about the fact that you don't have many friends other than Tadashi. I know you two are close but..." Akiteru pauses, "you and him aren't always going to be as close as you are now."

His voice takes on a wistful tone as he elaborates, "Adulthood pushes people apart, that's just how life is. You go separate paths. You still talk to those you knew in high school, but it's never the same."

"I'm going to be fine. I'm only 15, I have several years to meet new people, plus college after that." Not that I want to make friends anyway, "You don't need to worry."

Akiteru sighs.

***

They arrive at Karasuno shortly after their conversation. A small tourism bus - the kind typically used by sports teams - is parked out front, with the team members gathered beside it. Akiteru stops to let his brother out of the car, waves goodbye, and drives off.