OBSERVERS - TSUKISHIMA KEI

FIVE - THE BUS RIDE

At the meeting before the Aoba Johsai game, Daichi and Amaku went over their plan with the team. They were all seated on the gym floor, Amaku sitting criss cross and holding a clipboard. After the caption begged Shimizu for more information about Amaku's volleyball career, he had offered her more of a coaching position than a manger.

The three of them came up with a split. Kyioko would do the paperwork and prioritize the third and some of the second years, while Amaku would help with more hands on practices and be in charge of the first and rest of the second years.

"Let's talk positions for the practice game." Daichi got the attention of the gym. "Here's the plan we came up with."

The caption held up his board with the roaster. It started with Tanaka, Ennoshita and Daichi in the wing spiker positions, Hinata and Tsukishima as the middle blockers, and Kageyama as the setter.

"Hinata, Kageyama, we'd like to see you two work as a pair." Amaku said, and the two boys glared at each other slightly.

"Tsukishima's our tallest player." She spoke much more flatly when addressing him. "We want to see how much of an advantage that gives us over Seijoh."

The blonde smirked at her, relishing how annoyed she looked having to compliment him. "Fine." He shrugged.

Amaku glared at him, but stopped when she noticed how Yamaguchi's face looked paler than usual. His eyes were glued to the floor, and it suddenly hit her that he was the only first year not in the starting lineup.

"Wait, why is Hinata in the one position that needs a tall guy?" Tanaka pointed out bluntly.

"He's right!" The ginger said. "Why are both me and Tsukishima playing the middle blocker position?"

"Time out!" Takeda sensei, the club advisor who actually didn't know much about volleyball (but was extremely passionate about the success of the team), spoke. "I think I need to do a quick review of all the positions?"

He had out a book on volleyball, making Amaku smile in amusement. He read out an explanation on some of the main positions, desperately trying to understand what was going on.

"Listen up, Hinata." Kageyama stood. "Let's call you "#1 decoy."

Hinata repeated it back, sounding thrilled until it hit him he wouldn't be as "cool" as he had hoped for his first real game. "That sounds lame."

"We'll use you as a distraction while we rank in points!" Kageyama still spoke passionately, pointing to the smaller boy. "We'll be using quick attacks, that way the other spikers can do some damage."

Kageyama continued to explain just how important Hinata's role was going to be in the practice game. The idea was using his quickness and athleticism to distract the other team from the other spikers.

"That sounds so awesome!" His mood changed dramatically. It didn't last long, though. Kageyama made a comment on how if Hinata messed up, he'd ruin the entire game. And now, it was all he could think about.

They ended practice after that, and Amaku ran after Yamaguchi before he could head to the clubroom to change.

"Hey, wait up." She walked as fast as she could.

"Oh, sorry." He said bashfully.

"I just wanted to say that even if you're not in the starting line up, you're just as important to the team. There's more to the game than scoring." Amaku patted his shoulder.

"Right, yeah." He said, but his eyes were still glued to the floor. "It's just, you know, Hinata, Kageyama and Tsukki, they all have something special."

"And so do you." Amaku replied. "Everyone's progressing at a different rate, and honestly I don't think you're behind any of them."

"Thank you." Yamaguchi said genuinely.

✧☆✧

The game was today, after school. Amaku sat in her last class of the day, biting at the skin around her fingernails. Truthfully, she was nervous. There was no doubt she wouldn't be seeing her old mentor, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to.

The last time she had seen him, he'd inferred that she was a 'failed' protege, and she snapped.

"Amaku?" Yamaguchi snapped her out of her thoughts, now noticing the classroom was almost empty. She hadn't even heard the bell.

"Fuck." She cursed quietly. "Sorry, Yamaguchi."

"Are you okay?" He asked hesitantly.

"Of course." Amaku nodded, getting up to gather her things.

Tsukishima watched the interaction closely, but when the girl caught him staring, he scoffed slightly and looked away. Regardless, he joined her and Yamaguchi on the walk to the clubroom.

The clubroom for the managers was on the same floor, just a couple rooms down. It was always loud in the boys room, but especially today. Before Amaku could even passed the room, Tanaka came barreling out the door without pants on, screaming at Hinata who was already downstairs.

He knocked into Yamaguchi, who stumbled into Amaku slightly. She was already slightly off balance, so she fell back. Not enough to fall, but enough to have to catch herself. Before she could react, Tsukishima caught her by the small of her back with his left arm, stabilizing her.

Amaku didn't even have time to process what had happened before Tsukishima was walking away. She watched him, her eyebrows knitted in confusion for a moment. Sugawara, who had watched the whole thing happen, smiled to himself knowingly.

Amaku shook it off rather quickly, but her face was still a light tint of pink by the time she had started changing.

After a quick check that everyone and everything was accounted for, the team boarded the bus. Amaku grabbed a seat next to Shimizu after dragging Tanaka away from her, and they were on their way.

Amaku spent most of the ride either texting Hitoka or chatting with her cousin. She had a lot to fill them in on, and even though she spent almost every weekend with Hitoka, she always felt like there was more to talk about.

Amaku was feeling more and more on edge the closer they got to the school. She wasn't exactly nervous anymore, but there was that gut feeling deep in her stomach that wouldn't go away.

Aoba Johsai was almost Amaku's high school, since they offered her a full ride as long as she played on their volleyball team.

She wondered how different her life would've been if that game had never happened.

However, her thoughts were cut short when Hinata loudly vomited on Tanaka's lap.