Love Hurts (Teruyama)

Chapter Two

 Yamaguchi bit his lip nervously. It had been a week since he found out he had the Hanahaki disease, and he was struggling to keep it a secret. There had been multiple close calls, and the only reason Yamaguchi was able to avoid being found out was because of Tsukishima.

 On Tuesday, Yamaguchi had started coughing, and he kept trying to go to the bathroom so that no one would see the flowers, but Yachi kept on offering him water, and only when Tsukishima asked if she could watch his blocks, giving Yamaguchi the chance to flee to the bathroom.

 On Wednesday, Yamaguchi and Hinata were talking, when he suddenly felt the need to cough his lungs out, but he couldn't just run away from Hinata. Tsukishima had seen that Yamaguchi was struggling to keep his coughs to himself, so he started making fun of Hinata's height, much to Yamaguchi's relief.

 On Thursday, Kageyama was working on serves with Yamaguchi, and in the middle of a serve, he had coughed a bit, letting a few petals fall into his hand. He was panicking, and he didn't know what to do, so Tsukishima called Kageyama over, and started making fun of his sets, letting Yamaguchi throw the petals into a nearby trash can.

 The next few days weren't any easier, and Yamaguchi found it tiresome to keep such a big secret from everyone, including his own parents, but he didn't want to worry anyone else.

 "Yamaguchi, it's been a week," Tsukishima lectured. "You should at least tell your parents."

 "No. I'm not telling anyone else. Besides, it's not like it'd help," Yamaguchi explained, giving Tsukishima a sad look.

 "So, what? You're just gonna sit here, and die?"

 Yamaguchi sighed. "I don't know!" He shouted, holding his head in his hands. "I don't know what to do, Tsukki," He said, his voice barely above a whisper.

 "This never would've happened if you had just ignored that idiot," Tsukishima stated bitterly, referring to Terushima.

* One year ago *

"Hey!" Someone called out as Karasuno started to leave the gym. "You, with the freckles!"

 Yamaguchi turned around, and was face-to-face with the Johzenji team captain, Terushima Yuuji.

 Yamaguchi hesitated. "Uh, hi?"

 "Your serves are AMAZING!" He shouted. "What year are you in?"

 "Uh, first..." Yamaguchi mumbled, looking down at the concrete.

 "Wow!" Terushima marveled. "That's awesome! You seem like a pretty cool guy," He commented, smirking at Yamaguchi.

 Yamaguchi looked up at him, his eyes wide. "THANK YOU!" He shouted, catching Terushima off guard.

 "Uh, no problem," He smiled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Could I get your name?"

 "Yamaguchi Tadashi, you?"

 Terushima raised an eyebrow. "You mean you don't know my name?" He asked, still smiling at the nervous first year.

 "Uh, well, I do, but I just figured the polite thing to do was to ask for your name," Yamaguchi explained, rubbing his arm sheepishly. "Sorry."

 Terushima waved a dismissive hand. "Don't worry about it," He assured Yamaguchi. "Could I have your number? I'd like to talk to you more. You seem like a fun guy to hang out with."