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raquellemonsta · 1 year ago

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the sweet things in life (tsukishima x reader)

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chapter 9: pool

A few practice matches occurred the following day. You couldn't keep your eyes off of a certain blond, and often you'd find him also looking at you in between rallies. You assisted your team, congratulating them and giving them constructive criticism for what they could work on. They played particularly strongly against Nekoma earlier, and it was clear that the training camp was benefiting them greatly.

Kiyoko had sent you to fill the water bottles, since the boys' current game against Ubugawa was only a few points from being over. You brought the carriers out into the hallway and filled them up individually, which was an admittedly tedious and boring task. It honestly seemed to be taking much longer than it should've, the water pressure seemed a little low. After what felt like forever, and you were sure the game must've been over by now, you were done with the last bottle. You screwed the cap on and readied yourself to lift the carriers.

"Need some help?" a voice came. You turned to see one of the Shinzen players, the captain actually, if you weren't mistaken. Ogano was his name.

"No actually. But thank you" you responded. You weren't weak, and the bottles really weren't that hard to transport due to the carriers. He didn't seem to want to let it go though, determined to feel like a manly-man or something like that. As though you weren't more than capable of doing it yourself.

"Really, I insist" he said, attempting to take one of the carriers off of your arm. You attempted to keep it away from him, resulting in a struggle between the two of you. He pulled hard enough to both break the handle off of the carrier, causing half of the bottles to break open and leak onto the floor, while also pulling you forward to him and causing you to lose your balance.

Basically, you fell forward onto the now soaked ground, landing on you palms which now stung and overall getting your clothes wet. You didn't really have time to understand what had just happened. You heard the boy stuttering out apologies and further trying to help you, but you just ignored him. You tried to fight back the tears that threatened to leak from your eyes, and mostly succeeded. It's just that your knees and palms hurt now, and you were pissed.

"Get away from her" a familiar voice came from down the hall. Ogano tried to explain himself and the situation to whoever the quickly approaching person was. You thought you recognized the voice, but it was very uncharacteristic of the boy you thought it was to yell. When the figure finally got to the two of you, he shoved Ogano away and told him to leave for a second time. You looked up at your savior with teary eyes, and Kei caught your attention. He was still sweaty (and probably thirsty, considering the lack of water bottles due to this incident), looked exhausted, and even a little out of breath. But he was there for you, so you swallowed the lump in your throat and tried to ease your mind.

He then gazed down at you with a pitiful expression, like judging you for weakness. You looked away, deeply embarrassed and upset that he had seen you like this. Surprisingly, he knelt down in front of you while avoiding the water, and placed his hand on your back.

"That guys an ass. Don't even waste your time thinking about this" he bluntly stated. It made you feel better. You accepted his outstretched hand, and attempted to wipe the excess water off of you. He offered his sweat towel, which caused your face to twist in disgust despite the fact that you were the one that looked like a wet dog.

"I haven't used it yet, relax" he said. He wiped your eyes with the hand not around your shoulders. After your face was dry, he stood up.

"Thank you," you couldn't really communicate just how appreciative you were. Especially from him.

"Don't let people walk all over you" he said, holding his hand out for you to grab. You gratefully accepted it as he brought you to your feet. He never took his hand out of yours.

"I'll walk you to your room."

You smiled.

----

As it turned out, there was a pool at Shinzen. As a way to cool down, teams were allowed to go there after the practice matches were done for the day and before it was dinner time.

Up in the managers room, all of you were changing into your swimsuits. You complimented Yukie's (respectfully she's fine), and in return she told you how yours looked amazing on you.

After your interactions with Tsukishima, you were more than excited and hoped that he would be down in the pool as well, while hoping Ogano would skip out on it (though he was a teenage boy so you highly doubted it). You had no doubt that Kuroo and Bokuto would be there already, Akaashi was the only one you weren't too sure about. Your Karasuno boys would definitely be enjoying the pool, and likely most of the other teams might have some guys there too. The guy-to-girl ratio was of course a little questionable, but the large majority of the guys respected you all so you weren't too concerned.

When you got down there, though, it certainly was a sight to see. A majority of all the players from every team were already in the giant pool (picture this as just an indoor high school pool). Some of them were playing water polo, some were racing, and a few were wading. Some of the guys weren't even in the pool, Kenma was sitting and playing his handheld while occasionally observing the tomfoolery in the pool. Some of his teammates were trying to get him to join them, but he seemed to want no part of it.

Bokuto slammed the water polo ball down, causing Lev to jerk aside and give up a point, which in turn caused Yaku to shove his face down into the water. Kuroo burst out laughing at the torment of his underclassman. You noticed Ogano in a race with another Shinzen player and cringed. You would definitely steer clear of that side of the pool. On the other end of the pool, you made eye contact with Tsukishima, who was standing next to Yamaguchi. You gave a small smile and wave and he didn't react. You decided not to take it personally.

You set your towel down before stepping down the ladder. You decided to stay in the shallow end due to most of the deep end being taken up by the water polo game. You headed over to Yamaguchi and Tsukishima, receiving some 'ooh's' from the other managers, though Yachi decided to follow you. The two were standing on the incline between the deep and shallow end, likely because the water wouldn't even reach past their waists if they weren't. You walked over (extremely slowly) to the two.

"Hey (l/n), hi Yachi" Yamaguchi said. You smiled at him and gave a brief 'hey' in response as Yachi's face heated up and she nervously waved. You stood near to Tsukishima, who you now noticed up close didn't have his glasses on. He squinted down at you, so you moved closer to him to try and make it easier for him. He quietly complimented your swimsuit. Your heart fluttered at the attention from him. You thanked him just as quietly and turned to see the interaction between Yamaguchi and Yachi, which was just as shy as you would expect.

You watched them with a very smug look on your face, which Tsukishima noticed (because he hadn't taken his eyes off of you).

"What's up with you?" he whispered. You gave him a side eyed glance before reaching up and cupping your hands.

"She likes him. I think it could work" you whispered in his ear. He huffed out a laugh and turned to look at the two. Yachi looked incredibly embarrassed, stuttering her way through their conversation. Yamaguchi was much calmer, but there was some pink in his freckled face. He looked back down to see your goofy smirk and couldn't help but smirk at your attempt at matchmaking.

Then, Ogano splashed a little too close to you guys, and Tsukki glared in the general direction. You made a comment on how blind he was without his glasses, which made him roll his eyes at you. You playfully splashed him, before running to hide behind Yachi. She freaked out a little, but giggled when she realized what was happening. You decided to join in on their conversation, floating back over to Tsukishima as you responded to something Yamaguchi said.

Someone had come up with the absolutely amazing totally not dangerous at all idea for 'chicken battle royale', which would be everyone versus each other in the pool, with the last team standing being the winners. It was to be expected from a bunch of high school boys.

"Tch, how dumb" you heard Tsukishima mumble behind you. You could practically hear the eye roll. "Well you're gonna be my teammate so get ready for the dumb-ness" you told him. You smirked back at him and he gave you an irked expression. Your expression was basically 'sorry, not sorry' before you told him to get down so you could get on his shoulders. He pursed his lips and looked at you to see if you were actually serious before sighing and bending down slightly. You took the opportunity and jumped up onto his shoulders. He held your legs tightly, palms squeezing your thighs to balance you. Luckily, his hair was short enough and wouldn't end up obscuring his vision, and his absent glasses left no weakness for your chicken pair.

You managed to take down Noya (Tanaka wasn't the most reliable base, and you had caught him when he was staring at Kiyoko). They had been standing relatively close to you, so you made quick work of them. You directed him towards the middle of the shallow end, sticking way out of the water. You were about to get Yaku (who was on Lev's shoulders), when Lev randomly toppled over, eliminating both of them. Yaku resurfaced and immediately started reprimanding him. Unfortunately, you were backstabbed and pushed over by Kuroo, as Bokuto laughed.

Bokuto and Kuroo had won the entire thing (which wasn't surprising at all). You were still next to Tsukishima, though you started to shiver from the difference in temperature (since your top half had gotten wet when you lost).

"I'm cold" you told him. You totally didn't take your time heading over to the ladder. The two of you got out of the pool and you wrapped your towel around yourself before following Tsukishima to his towel. He quickly wiped his hair down before putting the towel on his shoulders. He then put his glasses back on and blinked a little, letting his eyes readjust. Once they did, he looked down at you just so he could take in your visage again, now that it was no longer a blur.

You didn't stay long, as you both made your way out of the loud pool room and went up to your respective rooms to change. The two of you had promised to meet back up when you were ready.

Sifting through your backpack, you found a comfortable pair of shorts and a tank top (since you had been less chilled than you were at the pool). You left your hair to air dry and headed back outside, where sure enough Tsukishima was already waiting for you. He was back in a plain white t-shirt and black sweatpants. You gave him a smile and closed the door to the managers room before you two headed down to the road.

The two of you walked for who knows how long, off into the fields behind the school. The Saitama Prefecture had beautiful, spanning fields with plenty of diverse flora. You hadn't really gotten the chance to fully explore the grounds surrounding Shinzen, so you were eager to do so now (especially with Tsukishima).

He was walking silently alongside you, staring off into the distance. You had no idea what he was thinking about, but he seemed at peace. His beautiful golden-brown eyes analyzed your surroundings, watching as the sun sank further down. When you noticed this, you realized the others were probably eating about now or at least getting close. "Should we get back for dinner?" you interrupted the calming silence. You looked over to him eagerly, since you would oblige to whatever answer he came up with. He shook his head and encouraged you to keep walking, though not before he looked down at you. His usually harsh gaze was much softer, something you'd noticed he did for you often.

When you reached the top of a hill, you had a good vantage point of both the school and the skyline. It felt like a nice place to sit down and appreciate everything. The weather was nice and the sun was setting lower in the sky, creating a beautiful pinkish-orange. Plus, your company made it even more refreshing. The two of you didn't even need quiet conversation, you could enjoy the silence and occasional sounds of the surrounding town.

You shut your eyes and laid back, breathing in the fresh air and clearing your mind. Schoolwork, manager duties, chores, and anything else didn't need to matter to you in that moment. When you opened your eyes again, you caught Kei staring at you. To your surprise, he didn't look away. You smiled and faced him, feeling your heart beat faster with the presence of his intense stare.

Feeling bold, you did something that was probably arguably extremely strange with a guy you weren't dating (and didn't have concrete evidence that he liked you). You opened your arms, clearly gesturing for a hug. Looking back, it was super embarrassing. To your shock, he stood up and then basically collapsed on you (it was with a little more care than a total collapse, but you were being dramatic). His head made its way to your chest, and you were sure he could hear your heart beating so fast it might explode.

Your hands made their way up to his hair and ran through the short locks. Without even realizing it, you were essentially giving him a head massage. You were about to apologize when he readjusted so that you could continue. The grin on your face only expanded, and you felt like you finally understood what true happiness was.

"Your heart is beating quickly" he lowly hummed, "calm down". Your entire body vibrated, and you felt chills. His voice was unsettlingly deep from not talking.

"I'm sorry" you said, for what reason you didn't know. What were you even apologizing for?

He only laughed at your pointless apology, bringing a hand up to grab one of yours and to intertwine your fingers. Scratch that, now your heart was definitely beating much faster than before and would probably annoy him, but you didn't care. It was so nice to just be in the moment that you didn't mind if he commented on it, he clearly wasn't going to get up. You tightened your grip around him and closed your eyes, smiling sweetly and filled with pure bliss.

The sun had long since set when the two of you finally stood back up. You gave him a smile and he smiled back at you, it was beautiful and bright and filled you with joy. He was warm, contrasting with the coolness of the night air around you. His arms around your waist and his chin on your head both produced featherlight sensations that turned your skin to fire. If you would die right now, you would die happy.

You couldn't help but notice how high in the sky the moon was when the two of you finally went back. Gorgeous, glowing, and full.

#haikyuu #haikyuu x reader #tsukishima x reader #tsukishima kei #yamaguchi #hq yachi #kiyoko shimizu #training camp #bokuto koutarou #kuroo tetsurou

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