Today was a day like every other. The team was practicing their spiking with Kenma acting as their setter. It was Lev's turn to spike. Kenma set the back, feeling confident in his set. Lev made a running start, then leapt into the air and swung his arm at full force as the ball slowed in front of him. The whole team stared in amazement. The ball bounced off of his head and onto the floor – another failed spike.
Kenma let out a sigh. He was used to Lev missing spikes by now, but he was amazed that he hadn't hit a single one, so he couldn't help but wonder if he was to blame. As the team took a break to get some water, Kuroo looked down at Kenma, who seemed to be drinking his water at a much faster pace that usual, his face tensed.
"Is something bothering you?" Kuroo asked, though it seemed he already had a rough idea. Kenma stopped drinking and wiped his mouth with the towel wrapped around his neck.
"It's nothing really," he said in an agitated tone. "I just don't understand how Lev is missing every set. I know he's new and all, but how can someone be this bad? Surely he should have hit one by dumb luck." Kuroo looked upwards, taking a quick sip of water.
"Well, this is his first time playing volleyball and we all progress differently, but the way I see it, he's getting closer and closer. In time, I think he can be a valuable asset." Kenma looked up at Kuroo with a look of disbelief, before looking away and sighing again. "In any case, Lev is lucky to have such a talented senpai setting for him," Kuroo continued with a smirk on his face.
Nekomata then gathered the team around, telling them that they were going to move onto practicing spiking with blockers. Kenma was asked to continue to act as the setter while everyone else rotated from being a spiker and a blocker. Yaku was positioned on the blockers side and Shibayama was positions on the side of the spikers where Kenma was, with their job being to pick up the ball after each spike. Kenma got into position, waiting for coach Naoi to send balls his way.
Kenma set the balls almost robotically as his mind dwelt on Lev. He couldn't figure out what to do with him. It wasn't just his spiking that was bad, but his receiving was also lacking. Thanks to his height, his blocking wasn't completely hopeless, but that would only get the team so far. He couldn't see what Nekomata or Kuroo saw in Lev. His mind began to explore a variety of thoughts as he tried to find an answer.
As his mind became hyper focused, he set the ball to Lev, who actually managed to make contact with the ball, though Kenma was still distracted. However, the ball was blocked, and before he could react, the ball went straight into Kenma's face, knocking him onto his back. He covered his face in pain and the whole team stood still in a panic, with Lev looking as though he'd just angered a murderer. Shibayama ran over to Kenma, kneeling down and handing him a tissue to stop his nose from bleeding everywhere.
"Kenma-san, are you okay?" Shibayama said shakily. Kenma quietly sat their, having finally been snapped out of his overthinking.
"I'm fine...I think," Kenma said half heartedly, still trying to figure out what happened while he was zoned out. Shibayama walked Kenma to a bench and the whole team stood around Kenma, which made him a little uncomfortable. Lev's face had gone pale, causing Kenma to look up at him quizzically.
"Kenma-san, I'm so sorry!" Lev yelled, bowing in front of Kenma, who blankly stared at him, unsure of how to react.
"It's fine. I shouldn't have been zoning out," Kenma said in a somewhat guilty tone. "Besides, you managed to hit the ball this time, right?"
Lev relaxed his posture, lifting his head then returning to an upright position. He placed his hand behind his neck and smiled awkwardly. "Uh yeah, I did."
Kenma pulled the tissue away from his face to check if the bleeding had stopped, which it had. He then scrunched it in his hand then looked up at Lev with a somewhat irritated tone. "Just remember what you did and get better at spiking and I'll forget this ever happened, okay?"
YOU ARE READING
Singleplayer RPG
Fanfiction[Haikyuu AU] Kozume Kenma is a highly reserved individual who doesn't have many friends, making him an easy target for bullies. As he suffers at their hands, his mental health begins to worsen. Even though there are people around, he feels alone fig...
