𝚃𝙾𝙱𝙸𝙾'𝚂 𝙱𝚁𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁

Chapter 8*

"Woo! How did that feel, Bokuto~?" Kuroo said, placing his hands on his hips, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Shut up, Tetsu!" Bokuto shouted in response.

"You can't say that."

"Ha?!"

"That Y/N's nickname for me," the middle blocker replied.

"What's the difference?!"

"It sounds weird coming from you."

"Then, what about Y/N?!"

"If it's Y/N, I'm fine with it."

"Hah?!"

Y/N sighed, trying his best to ignore their senseless arguing over a nickname. "That was so cool!" Hinata yelled.

"Nice save," Kuroo commented as he went to stand beside Y/N. "Impressive reaction time."

"Thanks. I guess...?"

"You guess?"

"Senpai!" Hinata shouted, jumping around in excitement. "You're really good at spiking!"

Y/N didn't know how to respond to such a hyper and energetic person. He couldn't exactly reply to him the same way he did with Kuroo or anyone else he was close to. But, Hinata didn't seem to care about receiving a response.

"Shrimpy..." Bokuto mumbled, sad that Y/N had taken the spotlight from him.

Hinata wasn't quite listening to anyone as he jumped around the (h/c)-ette, sparkles in his eyes. "Spiking isn't just slamming the ball into the ground--"

"He's right! If you're calm, you'll see how to attack."

"That's not true, Bokuto-san."

"Akaashi!" he whined.

--

"By the way," Kuroo said, looking at Tsukishima. "When you're going one-on-one with a spiker, don't try to block by centering yourself to their body. Center yourself with their dominant arm instead."

"Oh!" Hinata nodded, making sure to remember the older's advice.

"Umm," Tsukishima started to say, catching the third-year's attention.

"Hmm?"

"We are technically opponents as soon as we're in a match, right? Why are you giving us advice?"

"I've always been a nice person", Kuroo answered with a blinding aura.

Hinata and Tsukishima were silent as they looked at him. "You don't have to look at me like that..."

Kuroo turned his head to the side, glancing towards Y/N, who had his arms crossed over his chest. He scratched the back of his head embarrassingly before looking towards the three first years. 

"I want to make the Battle at the Garbage Dump a reality."

"Huh?"

"It's what our coach wants more than anything. But, who knows how much longer our coach is going to continue coaching. So, because of that, we need you guys to keep winning too. That goes for you too, Y/N."

"What...?" the (h/c)-ette said, arching an eyebrow.

"He wants to see our schools go against each other too. But, I doubt staying at the top would be a problem for you."

"If you already know that, then don't say anything..." Y/N said, turning his gaze away from him.

Kuroo looked back at the first years who were staring at him. "Well, it's practice for me as well, so don't sweat the small things. Come on. Let's get back to practice."