Flower Language ~ Haikyuu

22: Bouquet of Roses

Bouquet of Fully Bloomed Roses - Gratitude

Saitama here we come!

As Tanaka and Hinata went on about boarding the bus at night, I felt my eyes droop down. I lost balance, falling into Kageyama. As if it were an automatic response, he pushed me away, calling me a dumbass. Merely a second later, he was apologizing. Not only that, he  was apologizing loudly. I winced, and cover my eyes a bit. I urged him to stand up, and then put my attention into Takeda-Sensei, who was talking. Something about driving. I was woken up by the loud, "Thank you's!" that came from the third year's.

The group settled, now chatting amongst themselves. My eyes were drawn to Suga, who seemed to be zoning out. After further inspection, I noticed that it was quite the opposite. He was completely focused on Kageyama. I too, looked at the boy, remembering the scene that occurred days earlier. him and Hinata haven't interacted lately, its becoming worrying. I'm sure Sugawara noticed this too. 

 We  boarded the bus that would take us to the training camp in Saitama, already excited. I took a seat next to Asahi, a safe bet. Sitting next to others, such as energetic Hinata, would pose a high risk for chaos. I sat down quietly, laying on hand on his bicep. He turned towards me, startled at first, the fear quickly fading into a soft smile. My eyes felt heavy, finally giving in halfway through the bus ride. I felt myself fall asleep, my head falling onto Asahi's shoulder.

I was shaken awake, but I somehow knew who it was. I resisted the urge to smack whoever woke me up, clenching my fist. I reluctantly opened my eyes, and saw that it was morning. We were greeted by Nekoma. I caught up to the group, finding my brother. "Oh! Is that the Tokyo Tower?" I heard a certain shrimp ask. Are all of these boys clueless? Kenma calmly told him that is was just a transmission tower.

"The transmission towers in Tokyo all look like the Tokyo Tower to us country folk!" I heard Daichi yell back to Kuroo. He must have been teasing him about what happened back in Tokyo. 

"Daichi-san, we're in Saitama," I corrected, butting in to the conversation. Kenma continued explaining what the training camp would be like, but I got easily distracted by a tall figure sprinting down the stairs. I caught a glimpse of bright, silver hair. Lev practically threw himself at Hinata, immediately engaging in conversation. 

"Hinata! Did you grow any taller?" The cat asked, making my ears hurt. Why so everyone so goddamn loud?

"That's a pretty rude thing to say," Hinata complained," Like I could grow in six weeks!" Lev bragged about growing two millimeters. I noticed Kenma walking away, so I followed him. Before I left, I added my own commentary.

"Me too! I'm 184.2 now!" Hinata gasped in shock, clearly jealous. We headed to the gym, everyone talking loudly to each other. They sounded like a zoo, its driving me crazy. Once we had gotten to the gym, everyone set up for a match. We huddled around Ukai, who was talking about switching out more. The game started, the whistle making me flinch. I was at the sidelines, as usually. I am not always left out, per se. I am a powerful player, but not a permanent one. It only makes sense to have others be regulars instead of me.

The game went smoothly, but that tranquility soon dissolved into a bit of chaos. Nova received the ball, which flew straight to Kageyama. He set the ball to Hinata, who jumped, expecting the usual quick. But I witnessed a whole other situation. The ball flew, and once in neared Hinata, it dropped. Hinata fell back down, and started at the volleyball that had fell with him. The problem was, that the ball didn't go to his hand. In fact, it was almost a foot short of the orange-haired boy.

Everyone stood, shocked at the utter disappointment in both boy's eyes. A look of shock washed over everyone's faces, the game almost frozen. Tanaka broke the silence, and the game proceeded. They duo tried the quick again, but to no avail. This time, it was too long. But, instead of the game stopping again, Hinata saved it with his left hand. I ran a few feet towards them , causing Ennoshita to try to coax me back. I paced myself as I walked back to the others, realizing what was happening. They had changed.

After that, everything seemed a bit off. Asahi was up to serve, but instead of earning us another point, it flew out of bounds. He let out a small tsk, sending shivers down my spine. He's so serious in-game, it tends to throw me off. Let's hope they don't try anything to rash from now on.

Instead of my hopes becoming reality, Karasuno continued make a complete fool of themselves. Not that I can complain. It was entertaining, and is almost a necessity for them to grow as a team. Swag was switched in, as well as a few others. I stayed back, perfectly fine with just watching. Suga tried a synchronized attack next, which wasn't very synchronized. Tanaka failed to spike it across the court, but the ball didn't seem to be coming to him anyways.

You would imagine the team would stop trying after that, but this is Karasuno. Noya tried to do his libero jump toss thing, but he jumped too far. These guys are a mess. Bokuto then earned his team another point, ending the game. Instead of our other penalty, we had to sprint up a hill. I sighed, but ran anyways. By the time everyone else had gotten back down, I was already done with my water. I was called over by Nekomata-sensei, so I discreetly left. 

"Kozume-san, as you understand, Nekoma really needs you back," I nodded, urging him to continue,"But the other coaches and myself noticed your affect on a team's cooperation and overall gameplay. So, we will allow you to choose one team to play with for once match. Well, other than Nekoma, that is."

"Fukurodani."

"Huh?"

"I choose Fukurodani, sir. They are an amazing team, who work exceptionally well in-game. Even though that Bokuto-san is quite the wild card, he is quite the interesting character," I explained. He nodded, so I walked over the the team.

"Yo, owls! I'm gonna play with you for a bit, under the orders of Nekomata-sensei," I said, earning a few cheers. Coincidentally, we were playing against Nekoma. Kuroo sent a hurt glare at me, which I replied to with a wink. And so, we played volleyball. Surprisingly, nothing that important happened. We won, with only a few complaints that we were cheating, mainly because we had 'two top-five players!' 

But at the end of the day, Karasuno couldn't manage to win a single game. I watched as the third years (and an exhausted Tanaka) laid on the grass. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but suddenly, the guys left. Yamaguchi, who was just in range to hear what they were saying, also went inside. Curious, I followed the boy. 

"Ah, Tsukki! I'm gonna go hit some serves. Would you-"

"I'm gonna go take a bath and go to bed," Tsukishima coldly interrupted. I left, suddenly feeling the urge to punch a certain blond in the face. May as well accept the invitation I got from Bokuto after our match, and head to Gym #1. The moment I stepped into the gymnasium, I heard a loud shout.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! You came!" Bokuto greeted. I nodded, and moved to go get some volleyballs. I then heard Kuroo yell at someone outside, calling them Karasuno. I ignored most of the conversation, until I heard Bokuto complain.

"There's no point in practicing spikes without a blocker!" I peeked my head out, irritated.

"Oi! I can block!" I yelled, but Kuroo pushed me back. I pouted at him, earning a cold glare.

"That blondy does NOT like you. But, we want him to practice with us. So don't let him know you're here until there's no turning back," he whispered urgently. I nodded, and continued eavesdropping. There was a few moments of Bokuto bragging, but Kuroo easily stopped him. Something about not being in the top three. Once Tsukishima agreed, I stepped out. Instead of some dramatic reaction, he ignored me. 

Rude.