Instructions to Love (Kurotsukki)

Win and Lose

A couple of weeks had passed from mid-terms and now the Karasuno team was traveling to play at the Spring Tournament Qualifier Semi-Finals. They managed to play against 3 teams and beat them, but this time, it was different.

They were up against Seijoh and Oikawa. Tsukishima didn't like Oikawa, not one bit at all. From his brown hair down to his miscolored kneepads, Oikawa was someone Tsukishima hated with a passion. 

He was a little underwhelmed when they lost at the inter-high pre-limbs, but he was confident that he could face off with the king and his knights. After all, he was put through hell with the owl, his setter, and the cat. He wasn't going to let that practice all go to waste.

Once the team got to the court, Coach gave a small pep-talk or more like an analysis of their team and Seijoh's. He explained that this was going to be a hard match considering the different strengths and weaknesses the teams possessed, but they were going to give it there all anyways.

Daichi gave a few words and boosted team morale before the team headed to their starting positions. Serving side was Sejioh with Oikawa, which only made Karasuno's players sigh in annoyance at the talented setter's abilities. 

The whistle was blown, signaling to Oikawa to serve the ball. He threw it up in the air and gave a good sprint towards the court before pulling his arms behind him and hitting the ball with full force. The ball passed over the net and landed with a powerful 'thud' behind Daichi and then ricocheted off of it, hitting the wall behind the court.

Tsukishima sighed in annoyance, he couldn't be useful in this situation due to volleyball rules. But he waited for the ball and watched the other team carefully, making sure to only spike when it was necessary and see how their ace would work, in order to block him perfectly.

Meanwhile, Kuroo was at school, wondering about his boyfriend and how well he was playing right now. He couldn't watch the game during school and he didn't have time to ask anyone to record it for him, so the rooster-head was left in the dark, unaware of what was going on at their semi-finals.

He did wish them luck and went to a nearby shrine with Kenma to pray for their fortune as well as theirs for their upcoming tournament as well. 

But as the third-year gazed out the window, he was rudely interrupted by Yaku throwing a paper ball at him.

"Hey! Whatcha thinkin' about old man?"

"I'm older than you by three months, not three years idiot. I'm just hoping that we'll get throw semi-finals tomorrow."

"We will! And you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because you guys have me!" Yaku declared as he pointed to himself with a grin on his face.

Kuroo smiled at his friend's encouragement, but in reality, he was hoping that Tsuki was doing fine on his own. He knew that his boyfriend would over think a lot at any given point. He put real effort into his block reading  and tried to time things perfectly down to the milisecond.

But calculation could only take you so far. 

Kuroo had to believe that Tsuki was strong enough to pull through without him and had to learn to trust his teammates, something that he knew he struggled at, judging from the summer training camp. 

Ding. Dong. Ding. Dong.

The school bells wrung, meaning that students could head off from their classrooms and head for home or clubrooms for activities.  But for Nekoma's volleyball team, they were told to head home and rest. 

They didn't practice nights before games, their coach believed it was unhealthy to train the body and mind so much, so the boys were told to relax and believe that everything was going to go well tommorrow.