"I Hate Sports" ~ (A Tsukishima Kei X Reader) (COMPLETED)

Chapter Five

    The next afternoon, you met Tsukishima at the library. It was almost surprising to see him--you weren't sure that he would come. Scanning the library, you searched for him. It took a second, but you finally caught sight of him sitting in a small corner booth, surrounded by books. His hair was still slightly damp from showering after volleyball, but he had changed back into his school uniform. A pair of white headphones were attached firmly to his ears. He kept his eyes trained on his book, and it took a few hand waves in front of his face until he looked up at you. Slipping his headphones off, he set his book aside, grabbing a different one.
    "So," he said, flipping it open. "What do you know about volleyball?"
     A nervous laugh bubbled out of your lips. "Let's assume I know nothing and start from there."
    Tsukishima stared at you. "Oh my gods. You know nothing about volleyball."
    "That's not true," you protested weakly.
    "Name one volleyball position," he said. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
You shifted uncomfortably, tapping your pencil against your hand. "A... hitter?"
    "Oh my gods," he said again, this time with more emphasis. "They're called spikers."
You scribbled it down, eager for any information you could get.
    "Don't write that down!" He sighed. "Fine, I'll start at the beginning. In volleyball, the basic goal is to not let the ball touch the ground on your side of the court. The rest is just progressively complicated ways to accomplish that goal."
    In the next hour and a half, you learned more about volleyball then you ever thought you would need to know. Tsukishima leaned over your shoulder the entire time, correcting your notes and stating facts in his lifeless, monotone voice. He was a good teacher, but he could be a bit blunt, and his little put-downs did nothing to help your opinion of him.
    "Excuse me," the librarian said, shuffling up to you. "The library closes in a few minutes. Could you please pack up?"
Tsukishima nodded, and you said, "Okay."
    "Thank you," she said quietly, before heading back to her desk.
    Tsukishima scooped his papers into his hands and said, "Meet me here tomorrow. You still have tons to learn, and at this rate, it will take years for you to understand volleyball."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence." You shot him a withering glare.
    "Yeah, yeah." He waved a hand dismissively. "See you tomorrow."

    "Oba-san?" You poked your head through the doorway of your flat.
Your aunt looked up from the kitchen table, setting down her pen. "Where were you? I noticed that you didn't get home as early." It wasn't accusing, just curious.
    Yes, Oba-san, after weeks of hardly ever being sober and leaving me to do everything, you definitely get to know where I spend my free time.
    "I was at newspaper club," you said, beaming wide. "We are really having trouble with this one article about the volleyball club, and I stayed behind to help."
    "How nice of you!" she said, tilting her head to the side with a smile.
    "How did the interviews go?" you asked, trying to get the subject off of newspaper club.
    If Etsu noticed your quick subject change, she didn't mention it. "Great!" she said. "We have a couple of people that look promising. There are these two young men... they say that they can work on weekends, which is usually not when people want to work. I think I'm going to hire them."
    "That's great, Oba-san." You tried to sound enthusiastic, but it fell flat.
Concentrating on your homework was impossible; you kept expecting to hear Etsu shout or for your phone to beep.
It was too quiet. If it was quiet, your mind started to drift back, inevitably leading you towards the accident. It was like an invisible magnet was drawing you to relive every single moment...
    Shaking your head, you picked up your phone, and swiped across the screen until you got to your meditation app. In a few seconds, a soothing, calm melody was played. It wasn't intrusive enough to keep you from focusing, but enough to keep your mind from wandering.
    For the next few hours, you sat there, surrounded by papers, melodies, and memories that you wished you didn't have.

    "Come on, Tsukishima! We just won this set! Smile a bit!" Daichi called across the court. Tsukishima sighed and rolled his eyes before giving Daichi a half-hearted, close-lipped smile.
    "This better, Daichi?"
Daichi slumped a bit, and Suga patted his shoulder consolingly.
Hinata bounced around the court, chirping like a crow. "Kageyama! Throw me a toss! Throw me a toss!"
    Kageyama tilted his head back to gulp down the last of his water. He wiped his mouth and said, "Okay, let's do it."
    "How do they have so much energy?" you murmured, nibbling on the end of your thumb.
    "I know, right? It's like they're human batteries or something."
    You glanced to the right and noticed Yamaguchi sitting next to you. You couldn't remember seeing him walk over, which made you wonder how long he'd been there. Deciding to just go with it, you nodded along. "Yeah, they've definitely earned their name."
    "I noticed that you go to the library during lunch," he said quietly.
    "Huh?" You turned fully to him, setting your notebook down.
    After your (hopefully temporary) expulsion from the newspaper club, you had taken to eating lunch in the library. Aside from the puzzle club, no one came in there, and you found being around that many books was comforting.
    "I just noticed yesterday! I'm not a stalker!" he said, raising his hands defensively.
    You laughed. "Okay, I get it."
    "I was just wondering if you wanted to sit with Tsukki and I," he said.
    "Tsukki? Who's that?" you asked.
    "That would be me," a familiar voice said from behind you.
    Turning around, you said, "Ah, I should've guessed. Skskskshima." Trying to adapt Tsukishima's quiet, stabbing tone was difficult, but you hadn't practiced Shiagaraki Tomura's voice in your bathroom for hours on end for nothing. (It was weird; the two of them sounded uncannily similar.)
    Tsukishima's eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Yamaguchi, what are yo--"
    "Please, Tsukki? Can she sit with us?" He said it the same way a seven year old would ask their mom if they could keep a stray kitten they found on the street. He even gave Tsukishima puppy dog eyes!
    Rolling his eyes, Tsukishima said, "Fine. Whatever."
    "Yay!" Yamaguchi cheered, clapping his hands.
    You and Tsukishima stared at each other. You were certain that neither of you was looking forward to lunch.

    Tsukishima and Yamaguchi both were in a lot of your classes. This had never stuck out to you before, but it suddenly became a heck of a lot more apparent once you started looking for them.
     When lunchtime finally came, Yamaguchi immediately beckoned you over. Tsukishima was staring at the window, his headphones clamped tightly over his ears.
    "Is he alright...?" you stage-whispered, leaning over to Yamaguchi.
    "Yeah, he's fine. He's just... antisocial sometimes," Yamaguchi said, laughing.
    For most of the period, you and Yamaguchi just talked about tv shows. He was just as big of a fan of anime as you, and you discussed your favorites for a while.
    "We should have an anime-binge-watching night!" you said.
    "Totally!" he agreed. "I would invite Tsukki, but he doesn't like much tv other than J—"
    Tsukishima's head snapped up, and his headphones fell onto his shoulders. "Yamaguchi," he warned. "Don't you dare."
    "Gomen, Tsukki—" Yamaguchi started, but you held up a hand.
    "No, no, I want to hear this." You smiled sweetly at him. "What do you like to watch, Tsukishima?"
    He stayed silent, glowering at me.
    You cupped a hand over your ear. "What's that? Is this really true? Unshakable Tsukishima is embarassed to admit his favorite movie?"
    "Jurassic Park," he said suddenly. "I like Jurassic Park."
    You sat there, dumbfounded. "I was not expecting that plot twist."
    Yamaguchi giggled, and Tsukishima blushed angrily. "What did you think I watched?"
    Shrugging, you said, "I thought you would say, like, Dora the Explorer or something."
When he rolled his eyes, you noticed that he seemed more closed off all of a sudden. "Really, Y/N? I have standards, you know."
Suddenly, Nishinoya and Tanaka were at the table. "Hey guys! Have you had the cafeteria's ramen? It's saltier than Tsukishima."
    "The salt jokes are getting old," Yamaguchi said.
    Tanaka swayed slightly. "TELL ME WHY!"
    "Tsukki's nothing but a salty child."
    "TELL ME WHY!"
    "Yamaguchi has a good sense of style."
    (Yamaguchi snorted at this.)
    "TELL ME WHY!"
    "I never want to hear you say."
    "You two should be in pre-k," you interrupted loudly.
    Noya and Tanaka slumped dejectedly.
Tsukishima didn't even look up; for this you were eternally grateful, because you were sure that he would notice how hard you were trying not to laugh.
    "Don't you have to go bother Kiyoko or something?" Tsukishima asked.
Tanaka perked up at the mention of Kiyoko.
Nishinoya nodded. "As always, Sir Salty, your advice is sage. ROOOOLLINGUUU THUNDAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" he shouted, doing a half somersault away.
    Tanaka ran after him, shouting, "Noya-san! Amazing!"
    Just after they left, Asahi came running up, his hair a mess. "Have you seen Noya and Tanaka?" he rushed. "They drank almost seventy cans of Red Bull each in the last 12 hours, and I lost them."
    "They just left," you said helpfully.
    "Thanks!" Asahi said. He sped off, almost tripping several times.
    "What was that?" you whispered into your food.
    "Welcome to the crackhead carnival," Yamaguchi said.
    You snorted so hard that milk came out of your nose. Nostrils burning, you frantically waved your hands, trying to dispel the tears of laughter.
    "Your fault," Tsukishima said under his breath. "Don't you know that milk is dangerous?"
    The rest of the lunch break went on like this. For the first time, you found yourself not thinking of anything but how to respond to Tsukishima's roasts and Yamaguchi's endless enthusiasm.
    Something like disappointment stabbed at your chest when the bell sounded, and as you waved goodbye to Yamaguchi and Tsukishima, you found yourself already anticipating tomorrow's lunch.

Hey hey hey! My updates might be a little slower than they already are, because school is starting. (Booooo.) Anyway, I will try to continue the story as soon as possible! Thank you for the nice comments (and for reading my fanfiction in the first place)! ♡
—Author-chan