His Warrior Queen: A Haikyuu!! Novel (Tsukishima x OC)

Chapter 82: I Won't Give Up

Tsukishima drank deeply from the water bottle that one of the ball boys - not Hinata - handed him.  Two-on-two games were so annoying.  You had to constantly be running, constantly trying to keep up with the ball - there was barely time to think, or catch your breath, or just be.  Of course, that was the point - the entire point of this training camp was to get more experience, to constantly be working, to improve his skills under pressure like that.

It still wasn't exactly enjoyable.

Tsukishima was also well aware of his shortcomings.  His passing, for example, wasn't really anything particularly special.  And when playing in nothing but two-on-two games, one ended up doing a hell of a lot of passing.  And it was Saturday, meaning that there was virtually endless amounts of time for the coaches to keep making them play two-on-two games.

The blonde huffed out an annoyed breath and considered the fact that he might just literally collapse from sheer exhaustion by the end of this day.  At least at their team training camps, he got rotated out from time to time to allow other middle blockers to get in some practice.  Here, he was forced to keep working all the time.

The moment those thoughts drifted through his brain, he could hear Nakano's voice in his head, telling him not to waste this chance he'd been given.  If his passing was sub-par, he should be using these games to work on improving it.  Drain every ounce of learning out of every moment!  He clicked his tongue at himself, but also couldn't quite manage to keep a small smile from stealing over his face as he realized how thoroughly the girl had become a part of him.

He stretched himself, looking around the room and taking another long pull from his water.  His eyes came to rest on the folded frame of Hyakuzawa, all six and a half feet of him crunched into as small a ball as he could possibly make himself, which to be honest, still wasn't particularly small.  Kei was not exactly thrilled at having to bust his ass as hard he was for this camp, but at least he wasn't also dealing with the undercurrent of mocking disapproval that he knew the taller boy was well aware of.  A few of their fellow first years weren't exactly subtle about their disdain for Hyakuzawa, who was still a volleyball newbie, when you got right down to it.  I know I need to work on passing, and serves, but my fundamentals are a hell of lot stronger than his, Tsukki thought, simply because I've been playing this sport for so much longer.  Naka-chan was right, Washijo invited him here just because he's tall.  Height is helpful, but he doesn't need a training camp to hone his skills - he needs a beginner's camp to learn some skills.  The blonde found himself actually feeling a little badly for the guy - it was rough enough to be working this hard, but then also being the guy that no one wanted to be paired with for these two-on-two nightmares had to really suck.  

The megane found himself drifting in the direction of the depressed-looking fellow, when Hinata came trotting into view, stopping Tsukishima in his tracks.  He watched as the ginger bounded up to Hyakuzawa, a water bottle in his hand.

"Here's some water," Hinata chirped.

"They really should've chosen you instead," Hyakuzawa muttered, immediately looking shocked at his own bluntness.  Tsukishima grimaced, knowing that the taller boy had to be feeling he wasn't at all good enough to be here.  I definitely can understand that, he thought.

Shoyo, meanwhile, seemed to give his statement careful consideration.  "No, no...I think you mean they should've chosen me, too.  Don't you?  Everyone who's been invited has something awesome about them.  Even you!  Like, you're huge!"  Tsukishima mentally facepalmed.  You idiot, Hinata...he knows he's tall, and he also knows that's not enough.

Hyakuzawa just sort of grunted in confusion at the tiny middle blocker.  "And, for me...well...without Kageyama, I kinda...and I mean kinda...have a hard time reaching my full potential, or whatever...but still..."