On Your Own ( a Haikyuu fanfiction )

Wednesday. 20 June 2012 ~ Ice Breaker

Deep breaths.

Yamaguchi inhales slowly, knowing that his practice in front of the mirror will finally pay off. He'd rehearsed his lines countless times; played the scenario in his head over and over. For the first time in his life, he will lie to Tsukishima.

The two share an unspoken routine: every Wednesday during their lunch break, Tsukishima will go to the market to get food, and when he comes back, both he and Yamaguchi will eat at Tsukishima's desk near the back of the classroom. Today, Yamaguchi intends to break that routine in order to formally introduce himself to Yachi.

So far, everything is going according to plan. When Tsukishima slides open the classroom's front door, Yamaguchi takes a deep breath.

Tsukishima walks past, and Yamaguchi gets up to join him at the desk.

Another deep breath.

They both pull up a chair.

Another.

When Tsukishima sits down, Yamaguchi knows this is his cue to say, "You start without me, I need to use the restroom." He wanted to create a lie that wouldn't cause unnecessary concern. By using the "I'll be back, I need to use the restroom" excuse, Tsukishima will have no reason to accompany him, but it also means getting back to the classroom within a reasonable, non-suspicious timeframe.

Tsukishima, confused as to why the shorter of the two is still standing and just staring, barely mutters, "Problem--?"

"Restroom!"

In conjunction with slamming his bento box onto the desk, Yamaguchi is able to elicit a raised brow from Tsukishima and some giggling from the few girls nearby.

"Okay... You look really red. If you're not feeling well, make sure you let Coach know before practice." Tsukishima opens his bag of potato chips without even offering Yamaguchi a second glance.

Yamaguchi leaves the classroom to stand alone in the short hallway; he clenches his fist in victory. Though it didn't go exactly as planned, and he completely embarrassed himself in the process, he still managed to deceive Tsukishima.

Around the corner and further down the corridor juts out a small sign that signifies the room for Class 1-5. Yamaguchi takes another deep breath to prepare himself for the second phase of the plan: greet Yachi, briefly introduce himself, and say something kind before leaving.

As he moves to walk through the open doorway, he freezes, and his face pales. Phase Two has failed instantaneously. He needs to abort the mission. Now. Right now.

"Yamaguchi! What are you doing here!?"

"O-Oh, I was just on my way to the restroom, and--"

"Come here and join us!"

Being called out means he can't just leave -- Yamaguchi has no other choice than to come in and sit with Yachi, Hinata, and Kageyama. They push together two desks to accommodate the full party. There's just enough room to fit Yamaguchi's embarrassment.

Though all four of them are freshmen, Yamaguchi still feels far removed from Hinata and Kageyama somehow. He spent so much time planning how to properly introduce himself to Yachi, yet the other two went and did it within twenty-four hours of Shimizu's introduction. It's pathetic enough that Yamaguchi had to rehearse the ordeal over several days.

Yachi, on the other hand, is panicking inside.

Oh no! Another player whose name I don't know! Calm down, calm down. You probably haven't been properly introduced to him yet. And he's not a stranger, you've been watching them practice after school for the past week! He's... Number 12... I can't believe after a week of working with him, you only know him by his jersey number!

"Yachi-san!" Hinata says. "This is the guy! The guy who said we should come to you for tutoring because you're smart!"

The blush that floods Yamaguchi's and Yachi's faces can be seen from a mile away. They both stare down at their hands and smile nervously. Hinata doesn't have the slightest clue that he's put them both in an awkward situation.

Idiot! thinks Yamaguchi. I didn't say that! I said that she must be good at studying since she's in a college prep class!

Yachi is extremely flattered, but also confused.

Her instinct is to judge others based on appearances, for the sake of survival (should someone be a threat to her life). So when she gets her first good look at Yamaguchi up close -- an impressive antennae of a cowlick constantly drawing her gaze -- Yachi's complete lack of a fight-or-flight response leaves her bewildered. She doesn't feel like she's in danger. In fact, Yamaguchi makes Yachi feel like he's someone she's met before. He feels familiar.

Nevertheless, even when someone doesn't look scary, meeting someone new is always a frightening experience. Yachi isn't sure why new people always make her so anxious. Her "nice to meet you"s are always accompanied with sweaty palms and dry lips. Yachi's stomach does a nervous flip -- she knows she needs to break the tension.

"I-Is that so?" she stutters. "That's very kind of you to say... um..."

Though it wasn't in the original plan, the chance to properly introduce himself has finally come. Yamaguchi looks up at the still rosy-cheeked Yachi and gives a small wave.

"I'm--"

"This is Yamaguchi!" Hinata suddenly says. "He's our pinch server. He's tried to tutor us before, but that Stingyshima always interrupted just to bully me and Kageyama."

"Yeah," adds Kageyama without looking up from his note-taking. "Yamaguchi is pretty good at most subjects. It's that tall pain in the ass that keeps us from properly learning anything."

Hinata pouts. "Kageyama! You don't need to say words like that! Especially in front of a girl! Say 'butt.'"

"Ass."

"Butt!"

"Ass!"

"Now, now you two," Yachi says, "Don't forget that you need to be studying. Before you know it, lunch will be over. Hinata, Kageyama-kun looks like he's gotten ahead of you in the notes."

"Oh no!" Hinata shifts Yachi's notebook so that both he and Kageyama are able to see it better. "I'm not gonna lose!"

Yamaguchi doesn't hear Kageyama's unintentional compliment of being an above-average student. Hinata's mention of "pinch server" occupies his entire mental capacity. Reminded of his failure against Seijoh, his frustration and embarrassment meld together.

Kageyama and Hinata's bickering proves that they haven't noticed Yamaguchi's reaction. The only witness to his sullen expression is Yachi.

"Yamaguchi-kun, what do you like besides volleyball?"

He looks up at Yachi to see her forcing a semi-nervous smile. It quickly spreads to infect him with a nervous smile of his own.

"Sometimes I play video games," he starts. "When it's been a while, I have a meal at WcDonalds..." Yamaguchi wracks his brain. "Between homework, volleyball practice, practicing at night, and hanging out at Tsukki's house, I don't usually have time for myse--"

"No way! You practice even more after practicing with the team? That's cool!" Yachi knows that the team is full of hard workers, but it still amazes her to hear about it from individual to individual.

"I-It's not that big of a deal! Shimada-san -- ah, an alum of Karasuno's volleyball team -- has been teaching me how to do a jump float serve for almost a month, now."

"Jump...?"

"Jump float serve. It's a special kind of serve that makes it difficult for opponents to predict the path of the ball."

"Ohhh, is that what you've been doing during serving practice? I always wondered why your movements seemed different from everyone else's."

"Yeah. But I'm still not very good at it. I-I keep messing it up, and sometimes I feel like there's been no improvement at all since I started."

"Huh? But ever since I joined as a trial manager, my notes have shown you improving within the past week."

"W-What?"

Yachi takes out a notebook from her bag and flips through the pages before stopping and handing the notebook to Yamaguchi.

"Shimizu-senpai said that one of the duties of being a manager is to monitor the progress of the players and the team overall -- when someone plays better or worse, and the possible causes for both. She told me to spend each day observing one or two people to get to know everyone and everything better without getting overwhelmed. My notes aren't as detailed as Shimuzu-senpai's, but as you can see, the success rate of your serve has an upward trend... of..." Yachi trails off when she sees Yamaguchi's face still hidden, buried in her notebook.

"Amazing... You're amazing, Yachi-san! Look at all this information. You've been working so hard!"

"Eh!? Th-That's, um. Th-Thank you. The notes I've been taking show that you're getting better at your serve, little by little. So, you've been working hard too."

Yachi and Yamaguchi are grateful to have the notebook between them -- both of their faces are so red and hot, the notebook could ignite at any moment.

"Yachi-san? Do you think that--?"

"Yamaguchi." Tsukishima glares as he towers over them all.

Trembling violently and close to tears, Yachi prepares to run, but is immediately calmed when Yamaguchi speaks.

"Tsukki!" Yamaguchi quickly stands up and awkwardly smiles. He's been caught. "W-What are you doing here?"

"You've been gone for more than fifteen minutes," says Tsukishima. "You weren't in the bathroom, so I figured you'd be here. I didn't expect the freak duo, though."

"Why you--!" Kageyama starts to roll up his sleeve when Yachi puts a hand on his shoulder.

"L-Let's calm down..."

"Leave us alone, Tsukishima!" Hinata says without looking up or stopping his writing. "Since you barely want to tutor us, we haven't been able to study properly! That's why Yachi-san has been helping us even more."

"Oh, is that so?" A corner of Tsukishima's lip pulls upward in a smile.

This is it. Yachi knows that this is her final moment on Earth. The blood leaves her cheeks as she begins taking quiet, shallow breaths.

Yamaguchi notices. "Tsukki!" he says cheerfully. "I don't think you two have formally met yet. This is Yachi-san. Yachi-san, this is Kei Tsukishima. He's in the same homeroom as me."

"H-Hello," Yachi whispers. Deep down, she has a difficult time believing that Tsukishima, a freshman at least six feet tall, is the same age as her. She can't reach five feet even with her shoes stuffed.

"Hello," says Tsukshima. "I'm very sorry that you have to deal with these idiots for more than five consecutive minutes at a time."

Kageyama jabs his pencil in Tsukishima's direction. "You're the idiot, idiot!"

"Wowww," Tsukishima drawls. "It's nice to see that your vocabulary hasn't improved a bit, even after all that poor Yachi-san has been trying to teach you. When your test scores come back, make sure to apologize for wasting her free time."

Tsukishima continues to push Kageyama and Hinata's buttons, and the three begin to squabble.

Yamaguchi and Yachi turn to each other. Both share an apologetic smile.

"So. You went out of your way to formally introduce yourself."

"N-Not really!"

With ten minutes left before the end of their lunch break, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi walk leisurely back to their classroom. Yamaguchi knows that Tsukishima doesn't have to say many words to make him feel guilty. He knows he rocked the boat and broke their routine, just to say hi to the new girl. But for now, he doesn't want to feel bad about what he's done.

"I really was on my way to the bathroom when Hinata saw me walk by. I kinda got roped in without a say. He said he wanted me to meet Ya-- I mean, the trial manager."

"Of course he did..." Tsukishima scowls, but seems to believe him.

Yamaguchi knows that his best friend doesn't exacty enjoy Hinata's persuasive and bubbly personality.

Tsukishima cracks his neck. "Well, you still have time to eat if you hurry."

"Sorry for making you wait."

"Don't sweat it. I already finished while you were gone."

Yamaguchi doesn't care that things didn't go the way he imagined. For the first time, he has successfully lied to Tsukishima's face.

Mostly.