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Takenaka wouldn’t call himself athletic, despite what some of his classmates thought. Sure, he had been in the Tennis Club, but his laid-back personality and tendency to skip out on things didn’t really give him a chance to get a whole ton of exercise. He barely paid any attention even when he did show up to Tennis Club meetings, seeing as the whole deal was just a way to waste time and not look like a loser. Truth be told, he was pretty bad at tennis, simply because he never practiced.
So, when Kageyama came up to him and asked if he could teach him how to play, he was more then a little puzzled.
“The Body Improvement Club are going to be meeting over the summer, of course, but I’m still in charge of my personal exercise,” he explained, although Takenaka didn’t get why he had to have so much time devoted to working out. “And I don’t really have any sports I’m good at - or understand…” he wilted a little, then perked right back up. “So, I thought you could show me how to play tennis.”
He weighed his options - spend time over the summer teaching Kageyama a sport he vaguely knows how to play, or turn him down for no reason other then just being lazy. The latter was tempting, but he didn’t want to look totally pathetic, and, after all, he didn’t have any other plans. “Sure, I can do that.”
Luckily for both of them, the school’s tennis court stayed open for students over the break. Not so luckily for them, it was a really hot summer. Meeting up for their third lesson, they were both already sweating, their gym clothes not at all alleviating the heat.
Usually Kageyama would do some stretching warm-ups while Takenaka got the equipment. Kageyama would always give him a look whenever he skipped stretching. ‘You’re going to hurt yourself if you don’t stretch first,’ Kageyama’s warning from their first lesson echoing in his head every time he saw what was the closest thing to a stink eye the boy could do. Takenaka wasn’t looking to injure himself, he merely never went all out when practicing, unlike a certain someone, so he saw no reason for it.
At first, their lessons were just easy forms to help muscle memory and such. Kageyama didn’t complain about the repetitiveness, but Takenaka could only stare at a wall while bouncing a ball off of it for so long. Today, Takenaka was going to actually try to use the court and net, and see just how far Kageyama's training could get him.
“Okay, take your racket and stand on the other side of the net - we’re going to play today,” Takenaka said, and gave a very unenthusiastic 'woohoo' as he found a place to stand on his side of the court. Kageyama obliged without a word, taking a stance in the middle of his side. “I’ll serve first.” Pulling back his racket, he tossed the ball up, and quickly sent it flying.
The ball easily soared over the net, and was heading a little to the right of Kageyama. His legs get slightly tangled as he sped up to intercept it, eyes wide as he tries to line up his racket with the ball. He swings with all his might and - misses. The ball bounces a few times as it goes out of the court.
“Ah,” is all that Kageyama says as he races after the ball.
“Good try,” Takenaka calls out.
Once Kageyama brings the ball back to him - he briefly wonders why he didn’t just use his telekinesis to bring it back - he serves again. Kageyama tries, but misses again, and they start over. It goes on like this for some time before Kageyama speaks up.
“This is a lot harder then I thought it would be,” he admits between heavy breaths - he’s really sweating now. His stance is sloppier too, and Takenaka can only guess how good his grip on the racket is when his hands are covered in sweat.
“Do you need a break?” Takenaka was genuinely surprised the boy hadn’t managed to send a ball back yet; he had no trouble like this during their other warm ups.
“Mmm,” he murmurs as his shoulders drop, and the racket slips from his hand. Takenaka takes that as a yes and hurries to grab a water bottle for himself and Kageyama. Takenaka was sweating too, but he didn’t feel as tired as Kageyama looked. Maybe they should have taken a break sooner.
When he reached Kageyama he was now sitting, whipping his forehead and looking miserable, Takenaka handed over the bottle and he sat down beside him. He watched out the corner of his eyes as Kageyama all but tore open the bottle and downed it like his life depend on it. Then, when the bottle was half empty, he just stared at it for a second, his thoughts totally bare, before splashing the rest onto his face. The sudden act caused Takenaka to sputter in laughter and make Kageyama frown.
“What?” His confusion was even funnier now that his face was thoroughly soaked, the water slowly soaking the front of his shirt.
“I just didn’t expect you to do that,” Takenaka explained as he brought his own bottle to his lips.
“It’s hot,” he put so much emphasis and emotion in one word that Takenaka almost spat his water out. There must've been something in exercising that made Kageyama more loose with his words.
“Well, it is summer.”
“…This feels like hell.” Takenaka snorted again, covering his mouth with his arm. There was something about the monotone delivery of Kageyama’s jokes that just added so much to them. His reaction caused Kageyama to give him a weird look, followed by the not at all subtle thought of, what a cute laugh. Takenaka’s mouth snapped shut as he instantly felt much hotter under the burning sun. Kageyama must’ve been a little too tired from working out to notice that Takenaka noticed, so he just kept staring and Takenaka kept heating up.
“Can I try serving now?” Kageyama broke the horrible silence that was probably one-sided, and Takenaka felt like he could breath again.
“Sure,” He feigned aloofness as he stood back up, ready to get back to playing. He held out a hand for the shorter boy, who grabbed it wordlessly and allowed himself to be helped up. When Kageyama was upright again, Takenaka quickly broke contact before it got weird, or more sweaty.
Returning to their positions, Takenaka could see Kageyama eyeing the ball in his hand nervously as he adjusted his grip on the racket. He spent a moment figuring out how to serve correctly, then the ball was thrown up, and sent flying. Takenaka would be lying if he said he expected the ball to make it over the net on his first try, so, to his surprise, when the ball effortlessly entered his side of the court, he was a little frazzled as he ran for it.
Throwing out his arm, racket at the ready, he practically jumped for the ball as it barreled towards him and - right into his face.
Immediately he saw stars as he dropped his racket to clutch his head, swaying slightly on his already unbalanced feet. He’s pretty sure he heard Kageyama gasp right before impact, and tries not to bitterly think about how hard he had served despite it being his first try ever. He also swallowed how embarrassing it was to get hit by the first ball sent his way. He was beginning to feel a thud echo through his head as he gingerly ran his fingers over his forehead, searching for the exact spot he’d been hit. He was used to head trauma, just not of this variety.
“I’m so sorry!” Kageyama’s voice reached him the same time his worried face came into view between Takenaka’s fingers. He was holding his hands out, deciding between continuing his apology or guiding Takenaka off the court. Takenaka kind of wished he hadn’t been thinking anything at all. “I should have stopped it with my powers, I don’t know what I was thinking.” He continued talking while holding onto Takenaka’s elbows and leading him towards the bleachers.
“It’s okay,” Takenaka said between clenched teeth as another wave of pain hit him. Kageyama seemed to notice as he was suddenly trying to figure out where the closest ice pack might be. They took a seat and Kageyama began fidgeting with his hands as he watched Takenaka like a hawk. “Does it look bad?” He asked, removing his hands slowly. Kageyama’s worried eyes didn’t change as he stared on, but his fingers stopped worrying into each other.
“…It’s red.” He stated, unsure exactly what Takenaka wanted to hear.
“Do you think it’s serious?” Takenaka stared back, his face gravely stern as a quick plan to mess with Kageyama hatched. The boy’s tendency to get anxious when injuries got inloved was bothering Takenaka and he intended to fix it with some light hearted joking.
“Ah, uh, I don’t know, I’m not a doctor or anything…” Kageyama became more and more flustered under Takenaka’s stare.
“…I’m going to die.” He leaned back and laid a hand over his chest, his words as serious as his face had been. Kageyama, to his credit, just continued to stare, wanting to see where Takenaka was taking this. “I’m going to die because Kageyama hit me in the face with a tennis ball.” He, a bit too overzealous for a dying person, threw an arm out and faked a wince in pain. It honestly wasn’t that fake since his head did still hurt, a lot, but he continued to ignore it.
“Wh- no, I, I didn’t mean to hit you, don’t blame me-“
“Please, save your breath. This is my end.” Takenaka ignored the small pout Kageyama gave him when he interrupted. “Tell my mom, I love…bleh.” He made his body go limp, closing his eyes and letting his tongue hang out dramatically.
“Oh no, he’s really dead. I committed murder.” Kageyama continued the act despite himself, causing a smile to creep onto Takenaka’s ‘dead’ lips. “I need to hide the body before the feds find me.” He heard Kageyama get up, stand still for a moment as he thought things over, then move away. Takenaka peaked open an eye to see what Kageyama was planning to do now, but quickly stuttered back into action when he saw Kageyama holding his arm out, his aura leaking from his outstretched fingers.
“Whoa, wait-!” Takenaka’s hands whipped out in front of him in protest.
“You’re going into orbit.” Kageyama’s ability to maintain a neutral expression despite everything had always been weird, but right now it was downright terrifying.
“I’m alive! I’m totally fine and not dead.” Takenaka jumped up and Kageyama finally reacted.
“I know.” His aura receded back into him as smoothly as breathing, and a small frown replaced the neutral look. “Don’t stand up so quickly, you could hurt yourself.”
“You - I -“ Takenaka was at a loss for words, seeing Kageyama switch from joking to serious to concerned in less then ten seconds had his head spinning. Or maybe he really had stood up too quickly. He slowly sat back down as his head caught up. “…You got me. You totally got me.” He surrendered, his smirk returning. Kageyama gave him a small self-satisfied smile as he sat back down.
“I know,” he repeated. He was quiet for a moment as he thought about Takenaka’s injury again, not very sidetracked by their acting. “You should go home.” He didn’t leave any room for arguments, and, with another ache wracking his head, Takenaka didn’t want to.
“Yeah, okay.” Takenaka braced himself for standing this time, and made sure to go slowly. Kageyama hovered close by, which honestly would have annoyed Takenaka if it were anyone else, but for some reason he was okay with Kageyama’s proximity. Once standing, Kageyama gave him a once over, then ran back to the court to put away all the equipment they had been using. Takenaka nursed his head as he watched, knowing if he even tried to help he’d be shooed off the court.
“Okay, let’s go.” Kageyama returned with Takenaka’s racket in hand. Kageyama’s racket had been lent out by the school.
“Sorry about cutting it short, I know how much you absolutely love working out.” Takenaka reached for his racket, but Kageyama thoroughly ignored his movement and kept walking towards the exit.
“I can work with my weights at home,” Kageyama corrected as Takenaka followed behind. “Plus, ‘we all need days to rest’. Especially if we have an injury.” Takenaka gave him a smirk as they left behind the the court.
“Wise words from Kageyama-sensei.” He nodded thoughtfully, hand on chin. “Where’d you hear that? Your master?”
“President Musashi told me that once.” He looked back at Takenaka as he spoke. “It stuck with me.”
Takenaka hummed back, not having a strong opinion either way, and the conversation lapsed into silence. Their footsteps the only sound as they passed through the school’s courtyard and headed back out onto the streets. As they kept walking, different sounds filtered in - cars, trains, people - and soon they were nearing the residential district. Kageyama kept the racket still at his side, tracing the familiar paths and streets to their respective homes.
They soon reached the intersection where one road split off towards Kageyama’s house and the other for Takenaka’s apartment. Kageyama came to stop and looked at Takenaka with a concerned expression.
“You’re sure you're okay?” He asked, although it felt unnecessary at this point.
“Yes, I’m fi - whoa!” He did a double take at Kageyama, his eyes opened wide. “When did you get here Kageyama?!” Kageyama frowned, not exactly in the mood for jokes right now. “Kidding - I can make it home fine, don’t worry.”
“Alright.” Kageyama looked down at the racket, still firm in his hand, and tentatively held it out for him. Takenaka took it, bemused by how Kageyama tried to lessen his burden by carrying around, essentially, a stick for him. “See you later, I hope your head gets better.” He took a few steps away from Takenaka, but didn’t seem in any hurry.
“So, that’s it? No kiss for my boo boo?” He joked again, waving the racket around as Kageyama turned and stared up at him. A moment passed and he felt regret crawl up his throat as Kageyama continued to give him that empty look from before.
“…Sorry, but my lips can’t reach your forehead.” He let his words sit in the air for a second more, then he turned and walked down his road, not a beat missed. Takenaka felt… something over Kageyama’s reaction, but he decided to think it over when his stomach didn’t feel like it was full of butterflies and his head was pounding.