Lemon Tea

Practice

When you walked, the team was in the middle of warm ups and stretches before they all greeted you.

 "Miss L/nnnnn," Hinata whined. "I want you as my teacher, Ms. Ono is wayyy too hard." 

"Ohh come on, she's not that bad." 

"We want you to be our teacher too!" Tanaka and Nishinoya cried.

 "Well maybe I'll be your teacher next year," 

"Hey! Stop slacking off!" Ukai yelled. 

"Yayyy, next yearrr" the three cheered, skipping away completely ignoring that they'd been reprimanded. 

"Sorry, I didn't mean to distract them," you said, walking up to Ukai. 

"No, don't worry about it, that's how they always are." 

Now that you were here, you weren't sure what you should do. Ukai was also being uncharacteristically awkward. Takeda looked over to Ukai, as if to cue him to say something. Since Ukai was the one who invited you, Takeda didn't want to take over. 

"So L/n–" 

"Hi Miss L/n." a blonde girl interrupted. 

"Hi Yachi. I didn't know you were a volleyball manager, I didn't see you at the tournament "

"Oh I just joined recently, I've been helping Hinata study and he convinced me." 

"If they don't pass their tests they can't go to a summer training camp," Takeda said, filling you in. 

"Ohh I see. Are you enjoying it?" 

"Yes! I'm still getting used to everything but I'm having fun!" 

"That's good! Is there anything I can help you with?" 

"Sure!" she said cheerfully. 

You began helping Yachi and Kiyoko; getting equipment, filling water bottles, etc. as the team went for a run. You finished setting up before they got back so you rejoined Ukai and Takeda.

 "I didn't mean to pressure you, don't feel obligated to stay for long." Ukai admitted. 

You shrugged. "I finished my work early, besides I'm having fun! It's good to get out of your routine."

"I see...." 

"..So you played on this team in high school? What position were you?" 

"Oh, yeah. I was benched a lot of the time but yeah. I was a setter." 

"Ukai's grandfather was the coach here for a long time," Takeda added. 

"Wait- for real?!" 

"Yeah, and that geezer is still coaching some neighborhood kids. Even though he just got out of the hospital. He's a real pain in the– neck." 

"Haha he sounds like an interesting guy." 

"That's one word for him." Ukai said rolling his eyes at the thought of the old man. 

The team had got back from their run and you began helping Kiyoko and Yachi toss balls for setting practice. Afterwards, Ukai stood on a chair and spiked the ball for receiving drills when Kiyoko walked over to you. 

"Miss L/n? Can you take over for a second? I have to go to the bathroom and Yachi is busy gathering stray balls" Kiyoko asked. 

"Oh yeah sure." You walked over to where Ukai was standing. 

"Kiyoko asked me to take over for a second," you said, handing Ukai a ball as you looked up at him. 

He nodded curtly. "Sure, thanks." 

He continued spiking the balls, yelling directions for the team members. As he confidently spiked the ball, you tried not to stare at his strong tanned arms, his concentrated face. At his shirt raising up every time he lifted his arms. You would like to see him play too, you thought. 

The thought suddenly flustered you, and you smacked yourself in the face. 

"Huh? What's up?" Ukai asked, bending down a little. 

"M-mosquito." You said instinctively, having him look down at you from that angle for some reason made you shy. 

He raised an eyebrow, still confused. 

 You handed him the next ball, your hands brushing his. You just smiled up at him, trying to ignore the cliche moment and make it casual. Ukai only cleared his throat and quickly moved onto the next serve. 

Amazing. Kiyoko was only gone for a minute but it was surprisingly eventful. After Kiyoko got back, you thought you should probably get to grading those papers, so you said goodbye to everyone. Ukai walked you to the door. 

"Thanks for inviting me. I had a good time." 

"..Stop by any time," he said, holding back a smile. 

"Ok.. see you" you said with a smile and a wave. 

Ukai closed the door and turned to see a couple of the older boys staring at him. 

"What?" he said, raising an eyebrow as the boys pretended to be distracted, whistling and looking around the room. Ukai rolled his eyes and gathered the team for a practice game. 

A week or so later, you were at the school prepping materials. While it was summer vacation for students, teacher's still had work to do. 

You walked into the teacher's room to see Takeda slumped at his desk. 

"Takeda, are you ok?" 

"Oh hi L/n. I'm fine, it's my mother. She'll be getting knee surgery at the end of this week." 

"I'm sorry Takeda, is she ok?" 

"Oh yeah she's fine! It should be a routine surgery, I'll be going out there to help her during the recovery. The problem is that it coincides with the beginning of the volleyball training camp. I feel guilty leaving all the work to Ukai and the managers when I was the one who arranged for us to go to the camp." 

You paused. 

"How about I go in your place?" 

"Are you serious?!" 

"Sure! You said you'll only be gone for the first few days of the camp, right?" 

"Yeah, but are you sure? That's a lot to ask of you. You really wouldn't mind?" 

"Not at all! I've almost finished my prep and I'll just be sitting around for the rest of the break anyways. It's in Tokyo right? Sounds fun. Plus I owe you for all the help you've been to me over the years." 

"Well it's in Saitama, but yeah. If you're absolutely sure, I'll get you the details. Thank you so much, I really appreciate this! I'll let Ukai know." 

You flinched at the mention of his name. Obviously you knew Ukai would be there, and that was part of the reason you offered. But you really did feel indebted to Takeda and didn't like seeing him stressed out. 

You swallowed, trying not to dwell on all the extra time you would be spending with the coach.