Under the Stars

Chapter #2: The Stars Come Out

Several hours later, Tsukishima wakes up from his nap to find that except for the sound of the tires on the asphalt, the bus is silent. He removes his headphones along with his eyeshade and tucks them away in his backpack. Sitting up a little bit, Tsukishima looks around to see everyone is asleep, their heads resting against the window or their seat buddy. He sits back down, accidentally elbowing Yamaguchi, who suddenly jerks awake.

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up," Tsukishima apologizes.

He looks unreasonably exhausted considering he was practically bouncing off the walls just a few hours ago.

"Oh no don't worry Tsukki," he says, clearly fighting off great fatigue, "like I said, I went to bed early so I didn't really need the sleep anyway." A tired smile tugs at the corners of his lips.

Tsukishima blanks for a moment, still caught up on Yamaguchi's exhaustion. After a moment, he scowls and says, "Are you really sure that's it? I've never seen you look so damn tired in your whole life."

Yamaguchi looks down at the floor for a moment. "Well, I did sleep well last night, that's not a lie," he looks back at Tsukki, "I guess it's just a little bit of burnout from exams. It was really nerve wracking going into them wasn't it? I wasn't sure how hard high school exams were going to be so I was kinda scared."

Tsukishima can tell he's trying to change the subject, but instead of prying, he decides to roll along with it.

"I guess, Ani tried to scare me into thinking that they were going to be way harder than what they'd actually be," he chuckles smugly, "he knows better than to trick me like that."

For the next hour they quietly discuss an array of topics, how finals went, what they have planned for summer while the rest of the team wakes up slowly, one by one until conversation is buzzing just like it was a few hours ago. It isn't long until they pull up to Shinzen High.

It is much larger than Nekoma, making it massive compared to Karasuno, with many more buildings and lots of grassy areas. Several team buses are parked outside, but the only team that they see is Nekoma.

The coaches give out some instructions, and the team climbs out of the bus. While the captains greet each other, Hinata immediately makes a beeline towards his favourite setter, Kenma. The two teams make polite conversation as they head into the school together, and just as Nishinoya and Tanaka had done at the last training camp, Hinata mistakes a radio tower for the Tokyo tower.

As they walk through the hallways, Tsukishima takes notice of how many classrooms contain the belongings of other teams. At this rate, he won't be able to turn a corner without running into someone. Hopefully some of them have grasped the concept of person space, he thinks, I managed to avoid them at the last training camp, surely I can do it again.

The team finally reaches their classroom, and they quickly ready themselves to head to the gym. Tsukishima puts all of his stuff in the corner, in order to avoid being surrounded while sleeping. Yamaguchi sets his bag down right next to him, and Tsukishima feels a little relieved that it would be him sleeping next to him, as opposed to somebody rowdy like Nishinoya.

Yamaguchi still looks exhausted, but it seems like his excitement for camp has given him some newfound energy. His movements less sluggish, and his eyes a bit brighter. Tsukishima realizes he's staring, and grabs his gym clothes in order to change. The rest of the team seems to be changing in the classroom, and it would be inconvenient to go all the way to the washroom to change, so Tsukishima changes in the classroom too. Yamaguchi however, chooses the former, and exits the classroom with his gym clothes in hand.

A few minutes later, Karasuno files into the gym, which is packed full of athletes from different teams. Each team is in a designated area, already warming up with serves and receives. Nekoma's captain, Kuroo, gives them a quick briefing on what the day will look like, and they are sent on their way. While the rest of the team is warming up, Tsukishima performs a couple sets against the wall, occasionally glancing to the gym doors to see if Yamaguchi has arrived.

In this new environment, he thinks back to when he first joined school volleyball. The unease of not knowing anyone, the uncertainty of what might happen; it might not be the same circumstances but the feelings still apply. While in mid-thought, Yamaguchi peeks his head around the corner, making sure that he is in the right place. Tsukishima sees him, and is further reminded of that memory. How scared he looked when entering the gym, anxious and uncertain, not much has changed has it? Yamaguchi walks into the gym, and the team warms up a bit more until Coach blows the whistle.

"Our first game is against Fukurodani. We got a small taste of their ability at the last training camp, so we know what to expect. Keep your guard..."

Tsukishima spaces out as Ukai gives them a pep talk, staring at the team at the other end of the court. They played against them two weeks beforehand but he never really got a good look at them. They are supposedly one of the best teams in Japan, housing one of the top 5 aces in the country. Their captain sticks out among them, with his black and silver hair and goofy demeanor.

His gaze turns to his own team members. All of their expressions are hardened, focused, ready to give their all in this match. Yamaguchi however, wears a blank expression. He's looking in Ukai's direction, but Tsukishima can tell that his mind is elsewhere. Before he knows it, the team is running to their designated positions, whether that be the bench or the court. He takes his position on the court, and the whistle blows.

***

The team loses by a large margin. Instead of a flying lap, the penalty for losing a set is sprinting up and down a large hill that happens to be right next to the gym. They perform the run several times that day after losing every single set. Their quick attacks, their blocks, their receives, nothing seems to be going right. After their final run, Tsukishima is starting to question why he joined the team in the first place, panting with his hands on his knees.

After regaining his breath, he goes back into the gym to towel off and sip some water. He takes his glasses off and wipes the sweat off his face with the cloth.

"Hey Tsukki."

He turns to see Yamaguchi in the doorway. His dark circles have worsened throughout the day, and he's struggling to keep his eyes open.

"I'm gonna go work on my serves if you wanna come along, it might be fun."

"I'm going back to our room, showering, and then straight to bed," Tsukishima interrupts, turning away from his best friend.

"Uh, okay, but..." he pauses.

"What?" Tsukishima says in a bored tone as he turns back around.

Yamaguchi scratches his cheek, "I'm not trying to be mean or anything but, are you going to do anything to prepare? Or any solo practice?"

"We practice way too much anyway," Tsukishima puts his glasses back on, "there's no point in overworking ourselves. Plus, you're already burnt out from final exams, you look like you're about to pass out from exhaustion. Get to bed before you hurt yourself by tripping over your own feet or doing something else stupid."

Hurt flashes across Yamaguchi's face before he has the chance to conceal it. "I guess..." his gaze tilts downward, "if that's what you want," not acknowledging Tsukki's last comment.

Tsukishima doesn't look back as he heads towards the exit, leaving Yamaguchi behind.