Short Stuff [HAIKYUU: Tsukishima Kei x OC Fanfic] [Rewriting]

Chapter 15 - Is It Worth It?

Nishinoya's POV

"I found someone who could perform, by the way," Akira told us as she took a break. She sat down on the bleachers beside Tsukishima. He immediately took off his club jacket and covered Akira up.

"Do you always practice in such clothes?" he asked, raising a brow.

"The ones they gave me are way too uncomfortable for me," she said nonchalantly as she drank some water from a bottle. "Besides, I get to move a lot more in clothes like this. I didn't exactly expect you all to come over and watch anyways."

"Anyways, who did you get?" Daichi-san asked.

"Nami-chan," she said. "She's part of the art club and does cool speed sketches. I thought we could maybe get some random people on stage and have them strike a pose. Nami could do a quick sketch and show everyone. It's not super accurate but it still looks pretty good."

"Do you think maybe we could see her do her thing," I asked.

"Yeah, she's dropping by the cafe tonight. You guys could come and we could have her draw someone from the team."

"Aki-chan," Jiro called out. "Ready for smash drills?"

"Yup!"

And Aki went off. We continued to watch her in amusement. You really wouldn't think she was new to the sport. She was definitely a natural.

"All that strength in such a tiny body," her coach said, letting out a sigh. "You know when I first saw her, I wanted to back out immediately. I never thought a small girl like her would be this good."

We continued to watch as the badminton club did their drills with speed and accuracy.

"It's a shame," Daichi-san said. "The school lost an amazing club when the old badminton team disbanded."

"I wouldn't be too sad about it. From the looks of it, they could bring home a trophy after their tournament," Sugawara-san said. "The only sad thing about it is that Aki-chan overworked herself just to get the club up and at it. I know it was worth the effort but she's just such a busy girl."

"She'll do fine," Tsukishima suddenly said. Almost everyone looked at him with smirks on their faces, even the coach. Everyone suddenly got hyped up.

"Aki-chan! Tsukishima's rooting for you!"

"Your number one fan is watching!"

"Such a lovely couple!"

Their coach burst into laughter as Aki-chan suddenly lost her stepping over how flustered she got. But right behind her was an angry guy.

Jealous, aren't we, Jiro?

They finished up practice and we all headed for the cafe, right after Tsukishima and Kageyama forced Aki to change out of her practice clothes. We sat down on the empty seats and ate some snacks while waiting for Aki's friend.

"By the way, the girls and I already made some decorations for the cafe," Aki-chan said as she and the two other girls from their team brought out some boxes from the kitchen. Everyone checked them out and were impressed by how well made they were. I guess Aki can get pretty crafty.

"I'm here," some girl said.

Akira's POV

"Is it just me or is Nishinoya-san blushing?" Mariko-chan whispered to me as Nami-chan walked in.

"Maybe he's just amused that she's as tall as him," I whispered back.

"My name is Himura Nami," she introduced herself to the two clubs. "I'm part of the art club. Aki-chan said I would do speed paints for your cafe?"

"Yeah," Daichi-san said. "Although I'm not quite sure what you mean by speed paints. I'm Sawamura Daichi, captain of the volleyball team."

Everyone else introduced themselves to Nami-chan and she took out her art tools afterwards.

"Uhh, who should I use as a model?" Nami-chan asked.

"Oh! Nishinoya-san would make a great model!" Eri-chan said.

"Me?" he asked, looking a bit surprised.

"Oh uhh, just sit still then," Nami-chan said. She took out her pencil and got to work.

"Don't get too nervous, Noya-san!" Hinata said. Everyone else teased him. It was actually quite cute. She finished up quickly and showed us a sketch of him. It was pretty accurate despite the short time she took.

"I can do this on a much bigger scale," she said. "And use paint to color it up. I think it could make for a great show if we play it well."

"You're quite shy, aren't you?" Mariko-chan said, noticing how she was playing with the edges of her sketchbook.

"She is," I told her. "She's pretty quiet in class too! But when it comes to me, she gets super naggy!"

"Probably because you're such a handful," Tsukishima-kun teased.

"Alright, well we have one performance down," Sugawara-san said. "Why don't we plan for everything else! I think it would be much better to get it all planned by now so the badminton team could focus on their tournament next week."

My heart immediately sank.

"Are you alright, Aki-chan?" Jiro-kun asked. "You're looking a bit flushed."

"Oh, it's nothing," I told them, smiling as I shook it off. We all got to work planning what we would perform for the event, as well as some other details. Everyone went home early and I was left alone with the other first years from the volleyball team. They stayed behind, eating some of the leftover pastries we had in the kitchen.

"You're nervous, aren't you?" Kageyama asked.

"Is that true?" Hinata followed. I let out a sigh and sat down on the seat beside Yamaguchi.

"Maybe," I told them.

The tournament was coming up and it was the last tournament of the year. The club just started about a month ago and I only started learning then. I've been told by my team that I was good and that I was ready to compete but it didn't feel like it at all. To me, it felt like the moment I step foot on the court, I'd faint and everything I worked hard for would just disappear. I was questioning everything.

Was this all really worth all of my efforts? Was it worth rebuilding a club from nothing? Was it worth pouring all of my time into it? Would we take home a victory or would we be stuck in the locker rooms, wondering where we went wrong?

What if it wasn't worth it?