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

Chapter 97: Raise a Glass

Tsukishima Kei watched out the window of the taxi cab as Tokyo sped by.  

The tall blonde had his tiny smile on his face, occasionally glancing over at his pretty girlfriend as she and her sister chatted about the dinner they'd just enjoyed with family, and how excited they both were to be on the way to Kuroo's house at last.  

It had been a busy several days.  After their loss out of the National tournament, the team had  decided to remain in Tokyo to watch the semis and then the final.  After all, the hotel had already been booked and paid for, and everyone was excited to see if Bokuto and Fukurodani could make it all the way.  Coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei had let them know that anyone wanting to stay was certainly welcome, but if anyone simply wanted to go home, or had family they wanted to leave with, it was perfectly fine to do that as well, as long as they were signed out.  Takeda's biggest concern had been knowing exactly how many people to expect for the bus ride home.

No one had left early.  Even the Ogawas and Akiteru had stayed on, excited to support Fukurodani along with the Crows.  Kei's smile faltered just a touch as he thought about how everyone on the team had looked around at one another at Coach's announcement.  It was like we all knew that, once we left, once we walked away from this tournament, it would be over.  Really over.  The third years will need to focus on college entrance exams and getting ready for their future.  The second years will need to prepare to step up, to become the leaders of a new version of Karasuno's boys' volleyball team.  And we first years...well...soon enough we'll be the second years, trying to get a new batch of first years prepared and ready to fight our way back to this tournament next year.

And Nakano will be moving on to play for the girls' team.

A small shudder rippled through the boy at that thought.  He quickly set it aside, not quite feeling ready to deal with that just yet.

Tuesday had been a strangely difficult day.  It had felt odd, getting up and getting ready to go to the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium...simply to watch Fukurodani play.  Kei had found himself feeling somewhat jealous of Inubushi Higashi High School - he wanted to play against Bokuto in a real match, much as he had gotten to play against Kuroo.  By the same token, he had felt positively ridiculous thinking that way.  He felt...like a total volleyball idiot.  You'd think I'd be used to that idea by now, Kei thought, a wry smile twisting his lips.

It had been a heck of a game.  Inubushi Higashi had knocked top seed Itachiyama out of the tournament, and everyone expected great things of them.  And honestly, they had not disappointed.  The match had been close the entire time.  Each set was an amazing example of high level volleyball at its finest.

And yet, each time, Fukurodani had managed to pull it out.  They'd won their semi-final match in straight sets.  It hadn't been easy, and it had been absolutely incredible to watch.  Bokuto had been on fire, and he'd truly led his team to an amazing victory.  Even Akaashi had stared at his ace as if wondering exactly who this powerful team leader was, and what they had done with Bokuto-san.  Kei chuckled softly to himself, recalling Bokuto's exhausted flop on to the court after scoring the final point.  And then the exultant yell that had come from his bro as he lay there, staring up into the ceiling lights, gasping for breath.  Kuroo had leapt to his feet and roared his approval, as had Nakano.  Kei had involuntarily leapt to his feet as well, and pumped a fist, but had managed to clamp his mouth shut and not yell.  I don't need to be that much of a volleyball idiot, he chided himself.  

Yamaguchi had given him the most ridiculously knowing look.  Kei had naturally told him to shut up, despite the fact that his freckled best friend had not uttered a word.