Say You Love Me (A Haikyuu!! Fanfiction)

Say You Love Me [2]

Chapter 2
Three Words

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Tsukishima Kei gritted his teeth to suppress a yawn.

He was diligently stroking Kamasaki Juri's head on his lap, trying not to doze off himself. He had always been weak to her wishes, and so when she practically begged for him to stay until she fell asleep, he couldn't say no.

"Hey, Kei," she spoke softly, jolting him out of his reverie. "If I went to Karasuno, would you have let me watch you practice every day?"

"Not a chance," he replied almost immediately. His hand froze for a second as images of the chaos that he had to witness every single day during practice fleeted through his mind. "Annoying."

"Annoying? Who?"

Tsukishima shook his head, heaving a deep sigh. "Nothing. I just remembered something unpleasant."

"I see." She stayed silent for a while before suddenly grabbing his hand that was stroking her hair, holding it in place. Her brows were furrowed when she met his gaze, then said, "I heard you're going to have a practice match with us tomorrow."

His bespectacled eyes widened upon hearing that. "Who told you?"

"Kindaichi-kun and Kunimi-kun told me."

Tsukishima pondered for a minute, frowning. Kindaichi-kun? Kunimi-kun?

He had guessed they were from Aoba Johsai's boys volleyball team. Well, it was just like her to be able to befriend them easily though so he wasn't really that surprised. Unlike him, she had a very outgoing personality—aside from the fact that she was also talented, smart, and beautiful. Many people would naturally want to be her friend. Especially guys.

Now he's starting to wonder what this "Kindaichi-kun" and "Kunimi-kun" were like.

"It's just a practice game so I didn't tell you," he finally said, shoving all unnecessary thoughts to the back of his head.

He didn't tell her about the match on purpose because he knew she would definitely be there to watch the game, and her watching him play would only make him nervous and self-conscious. He normally didn't mind whoever it was that's watching him—even if they're his family. However, for some reason, Juri was different.

The second they were told that they were going to have a practice game against Aoba Johsai, the first thing that came to his mind was his fiancee. Kamasaki Juri was there, as a student and as a setter for their girls' volleyball team.

She was an excellent player, she was strong enough for powerhouse schools to actually scout her. In fact, she had won the "Best Setter Award" twice in a row during her second and third year in junior high, resulting in Shiratorizawa and Aoba Johsai wanting to have her in their team. Shiratorizawa's girls volleyball team was the strongest in the prefecture, but she chose the latter because it was much closer to her house.

Tsukishima himself had seen her play plenty of times before and she was indeed a force to be reckoned with. That's exactly the reason why he would get nervous whenever she watched him play. He believed he sucked compared to her. He didn't want her to think that he was not good at all, or that he was uncool.

"But you know I want to watch you play," she responded seriously, pulling him out of his thoughts. "You're the reason why I love volleyball and why I started playing in the first place. I love watching you play, Kei."

Tsukishima could feel his blood roaring in his ears as warmth enveloped his chest, causing his heart to pound in an erratic manner. Juri's voice held sincerity, and there was gentleness in her beautiful blue eyes as she fixed them on him.