secret gem • haikyuu !!

17 ; Last Day

It is a feint—

From listening, curiously, to Bokuto's explanation to Hinata, I felt intrigued by the way he described a feint. He made it sound way cooler than when I first saw it. I could hear a small sigh coming from Akaashi, as he knew that his words would probably come back to bite his butt sooner or later.

"When you get a feint in, there's a completely different sense of satisfaction that you get from a good spike. You know how a handful of receivers will dive for the ball?" Bokuto asked. In response, he got a feverish nod from Hinata, paying close to every detail the ace was saying was, "You're usually an eye level with them of above, but the moment they try to reach for the ball, miss, then look up..."

"That's the best feeling." Bokuto finished; his tone sent a small shiver to my spine, as I could imagine that scenario perfectly. 

I looked back over the the four who were, sort of waiting patiently for Bokuto to finish his lengthy talk with Hinata. I clapped my hands together, bringing their attention back to me, "Okay, enough talking guys. Let's play."

Six of the boys stared at me, five of which with small smirks, got back into their positions to start. And let the game commence – again.

I watched their rallies and volleys intently, ready flip the scores for the two teams. The thought flew past my mind like, the ball that soared over the net, but I was able to catch a small sight of it. Tomorrow's the last day before we return back home, then a week or two later are the preliminaries during August. Then, if the team makes it that far, the representative play-offs are during mid-November. I heard a faint voice that also spun around in my mind: Coach Nekomata. I was walking with him and Coach Naoi to meet Karasuno's coach and team advisor. I could remember when the two coaches were talking about this so-called fated match between Nekoma and Karasuno.

'The Trashcan Showdown' or 'The Battle at the Garbage Dump'.

The only way we could make that happen is to get both teams to nationals. That's the only way we could watch them fight for the win. 

"Mai! One on cats!" My brother called out, snapping me out of my head. I quickly flipped the score, showing 20-21 to the 'Owls'.

It was Tsukishima's turn to serve and I just couldn't help but think about what happen last night. I really wasn't in my right mind. I really don't know what come over me either. I guess all my emotions just came crashing down at once. Normally Kenma would be the one who would comfort me, call me when I needed something. But yesterday I was just helpless. Thankfully, Tsukishima was there to comfort me. I guess I finally get another shoulder to lean on so I don't burden Kenma even further. I couldn't even imagine what would have happened if he didn't stay behind. I think I would just be a sobbing mess and maybe making more mess. I would probably have tried to spike my emotions out too.

I watched them continue to play throughout the rest of this night. But my eyes went back to Tsukishima, jumping next to my brother and Lev, trying to block Bokuto's spike. Tsukishima may look like a distant jerk– Okay maybe jerk isn't the best work. But inside, Tsukishima is really humorous and considerate. But really...

What would've happened if Tsukishima wasn't there?

*****

"Good morning Yacchan~" I fluttered, folding up my futon helping Kiyoko packing up. I watched as she yawned, letting out some fun sounds– how do you write a yawn? She looked at us with tired eyes and smiled.

"Mornin' " She replied, still keeping a tight grasp against her pillow.

"Sleep well Hitoka-chan?" Kiyoko asked with a little giggle.