Under the Stars

Chapter #13: Summer Has Come and Passed

Four weeks pass and second term is right around the corner. The team continues to practice 5 days a week, honing their skills to be ready for the Spring High Preliminaries in late October. Coach Ukai and Takeda Sensei were pleased to see the progress the team was making, and would find ways to push them even harder, driving them to their full potential. And even though the prelims were still nearly 2 months away, everyone was beginning to feel the excitement. Although he'd never admit it to anyone, Tsukishima was looking forward to the event, even if it was a little bit.

After the Qualifiers, his older brother invited him to practice with his volleyball club. At first, the practices were irritating, but after a while, he could feel himself improving. He trained with them twice a week and had to leave practice 30 minutes early, but since he was leaving to train with his brother's team, Coach didn't mind.

Tsukishima and Yamaguchi had started hanging out more often after the Qualifiers, mostly going to each other's houses. On good days they'd go outside and play volleyball, on mediocre days they'd stay inside and play video games, and on bad days they'd just talk. There had been a few times where Yamaguchi needed his friend's comfort, and Tsukki would pull him towards his chest, resting his hand on the back of his head, or he'd simply lay his head on his shoulder.

One time, he stayed the night at Tsukki's house and they watched a movie together. About halfway through, Tadashi rested his head on his shoulder and without thinking, Tsukishima pulled him closer. He felt a sort of warmth bloom in his chest and spread through the rest of his body. Down his arms and through hands and fingers, up to his head and down his legs, he felt happy.

But why do I feel like this?

He found himself asking that question more and more frequently throughout the summer, along with the question of why he cares so much. No matter how much he searched for the answer, he just couldn't find it. He ended up attributing it to how the two of them had gotten closer since the beginning of high school.

Akiteru had come to visit several times as well. He'd join in on whatever video game they were playing and kick both their asses. They'd occasionally play volleyball together too. Akiteru had always been fond of Tadashi, ever since Kei became friends with him. He was bubbly, kind, and his first real friend. After Kei and Akiteru started drifting apart, Tadashi had lost touch with Akiteru as well. But now, they've reconnected and both of them were happy.

If he were being honest, Tsukishima was a little uncomfortable spending this much time with Akiteru. They'd been distant from each other for years without any healing. At first, that had bothered Kei, but after some time he had accepted it and moved on. Now there was no doubting that he loved his brother, but it wasn't the same. And now they were suddenly spending time together again. Even though he didn't want to, there was one reason why he went along with it.

It makes Tadashi happy.

It is now the Saturday before the first day of second semester. Tsukishima lays on his bed, his right leg crossed over his left, hands behind his head and eyes closed, headphones over his ears. He spent the day reviewing notes from middle school that were from the same subjects he'd be taking this semester. His phone buzzes in his pocket, he pulls it out and flips it open to see a text from Yamaguchi.

'Are you busy right now?'

Tsukishima is quick to type a reply.

'No, what's up?'

'Can I call?'

'Go for it.'

Tsukishima's phone rings a few seconds later. He immediately picks up.

"Hey, how are you doing?" he asks just to be polite, aware that he wouldn't have asked to call if he was doing okay.

"I'm...I'm alright but I'm feeling really nervous and I just...I thought that talking to you would help," he replies, anxiety clearly straining his voice. Because of this, Tsukishima automatically takes on a gentler tone. He's learned how to handle Tadashi's anxiety since the Qualifiers.