The Royal Duo

Chapter 7: The Match-Part 1

The chapter about the match will be uploaded tomorrow and the day after (Spoiler, it's broken into 3 chapters). After that, the update schedule will probably be every other Friday. I can't promise anything, because I'm in my last year of highschool. So this Friday is when the regular uploading schedule starts.

Also, the writing style might change because I had some chapters written long before, I just never edited them. After those get published, I'll be writing from scratch all over again.

Enjoy.

-Break-

Chapter 7: The Match – Part 1

Friday. It was the fateful day. The match between the first years and the Volleyball team would happen today. They agreed ahead of time to do it after school in case it took a while. Since it's later on in the afternoon however, they still had the morning to practice and prepare themselves. That's exactly what the first years were doing.

"Yamaguchi." Tsukishima calls monotonously as he sets the ball to him.

"Leave it to me, Tsukki!" Yamaguchi yells happily before spiking the ball down. Hinata dived in an attempt to receive it, but just barely missed.

The first years were currently playing a practice match between one another. Since there we're only 4 people, they split into pairs. Naturally, Hinata and Kageyama paired together, leaving Tsukishima and Yamaguchi to do the same. The rain continued into the night, becoming a storm quickly after. It stopped in the morning, leaving the soil saturated and drenched. Miraculously, thanks to the sun shining just a little brighter than usual, the water was absorbed by the soccer field and became dry enough for them to play. The ground was still slippery, and every now and then someone would lose their footing when running, but would quickly regain it. It didn't happen that often, so they bore with it.

Through the week, significant changes occurred with Kageyama and Hinata's friendship with Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. Well, it wasn't really a friendship, more of a mutual relationship through Volleyball. Though Hinata and Kageyama we're still apprehensive and reserved around them, they became a little less rigid. Hinata would mostly rely on Kageyama to talk for them, but there were a few incidents where he would speak out. Albeit, in a soft quiet voice, but just loud enough for everyone to hear. Yesterday was actually the most he ever spoke out loud. He would still hide behind Kageyama when they weren't playing, but he started showing a little more emotion besides fear. As for Kageyama, his hostility and wariness didn't die down at all, but he did seem to open up a little. Since Tsukishima and Yamaguchi weren't demanding him of anything, it put him more at ease. Of course, he and Tsukki still fought daily, but it never got physical. They both understood that they only physically fought when provoked, or if someone hurt their best friend. That understanding gave Kageyama and Tsukishima a weird relationship where they still hated one another for their personalities and jabs, but respected their decisions at the same time. It was very contradicting. As for Kageyama's protectiveness of Hinata, it didn't really change. The only difference was that he wasn't as guarded around them as he was before, letting Hinata hide behind him if he wanted to. However, if Tsukki does start teasing Hinata, he does become defensive, demanding he stop.

Then there was Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. Over the week they learned quite a number of things; for one, when to and when not to question some of the antics of the freak duo. Their protectiveness of one another was definitely one of them. Whenever Yamaguchi would try to engage Hinata in a conversation, Kageyama would automatically shift his body to hide more of Hinata, given that he never left Kageyama's side. That was another one of their weird antics. They we're always standing or sitting near one another. The only time they weren't directly beside one another was when they were playing Volleyball, but that was a given. If they were separated for even a second, Hinata would begin trembling while Kageyama would start frantically searching for him, even when it was just a few inches. They made a mental note to never try to separate them again. It wasn't as though they cared - even though Yamaguchi did worry about them every now and then - it was more of not wanting to deal with it.