Stolen Heart (Haikyuu!!) 【UNDER REVISION】

Against Seijou - I

It was Monday and it would be a day after Hotaru had accidentally met Tsukishima on her way home. There would be club activities later on after classes too, so the fact that the two of them (along with the other club members) would spend the whole day together seemed a bit awkward for her.

Not that she minded it or something. It's just she saw an unusual side of him last Sunday after all and it made her wonder if he had eaten something bad or might have been feeling under the weather. He was usually sharp-tongued and indifferent, if not irritable, as far as she had observed during the past few days during classes and practices.

Hotaru slid the door open to her assigned classroom, finding the pair of fellow first-years already inside. She entered without hesitation and proceeded to where her seat was, which is beside her light-haired classmate.

"Good morning Tsukishima, Yamaguchi," she greeted the two of them, loud enough for them to hear her. She received a nod of acknowledgement from Tsukishima and a proper greeting from his best friend, Yamaguchi.

The latter was more friendly than the former, which made Hotaru feel a little bit better. Still, she wondered how in the world he could tolerate Tsukishima's apathetic personality sometimes.

"Are you guys feeling nervous for tomorrow's practice match against one of the prefecture's best 4?" She asked, genuinely curious because she remembered that the other duo, namely the oddball duo, was quite excited themselves.

However, it seemed like that was not the case for these two at all.

"Doesn't really matter. We'd probably even lose," Tsukishima quietly commented despite having his headphones on. Hotaru was quite surprised herself when he answered her question, because she figured that it was bound to get ignored by him.

Yamaguchi anxiously glanced at his friend because of his somewhat careless and pessimistic answer. Before he could intervene and try to reason to Hotaru about Tsukishima's response, he was cut off when he heard her soft chuckle resonating.

"Geez, how negative can you be, Tsukishima-kun? I know you're not one to easily get excited like Hinata and Kageyama but you could at least show a bit of enthusiasm?" It was not a question but more like words that were meant to give him a reason to try to lighten up a bit, in Hotaru's honest view.

It ended up making him grumble inaudibly to himself and making his raven-haired friend sigh wearily. Sometimes, Tsukishima is too much to handle, even for him.

"What about you, Yamaguchi?" Her head was tilted to the side quite a bit, a small smile lingering on her lips as she awaited the said boy's reply about her question earlier.

"I'm not really sure what to feel since I know I won't get the chance to play. But I do feel nervous for the senpais and the others." Hotaru nodded, understanding what he was trying to say. It certainly did make sense. Before she could say something to boost his confidence, their conversation were cut short by their teacher entering the room.

"I'll talk to you guys again later," were the only words that left her lips before she sat properly in her seat. Yamaguchi went back to his too, which was just a few seats away from them. Tsukishima as well, had hid his headphones inside his bag so as not to get scolded as the lesson had finally started shortly after the teacher stepped inside the room.

~~~

Hotaru was on her way to the gym after changing into her given uniform which was composed of the black jacket, over a plain white shirt and a pair of black trousers. She was passing by when she caught a glimpse of a fidgety Hinata wearing what seemed to be a pair of trousers twice his size. It hang loosely around his hips.