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Math sucks, Ukai thinks, staring out the window. School sucks. Getting yelled at by Coach Kageyama for smoking and cutting class sucked, and having to mutter an apology to Hinata-sensei's sad, disappointed eyes also sucked.
Having only a long, grueling volleyball practice after this to look forward too…Ukai tries to add it to the list, to insist that it also sucks, but truthfully in the privacy of his own head, Ukai is forced to admit that he's looking forward to it, that burning off the energy feels good, that Sugawara-senpai makes being a setter look fun and how patient he is with Ukai feels nice. Last week Ukai almost started a fight in the stairwell with a second year that called him a shitty wannabe Yankee, but then Ukai had head Sugawara's gentle voice in his head reminding that they needed him so could he not get suspended for fighting again? And then Ukai had stomped off, grumbling to himself.
Ukai doesn't really get what's going on with himself lately. Putting a lot of effort into something he's not immediately good at isn't exactly his way, plus it's volleyball, which everybody always tried to push him into just like his shitty old man grandpa, who used to be some kind of ace coach or something. Whatever.
"Ukai-kun!" Takeda is waving over the edge of the railing outside the clubroom, flailing harder when Ukai doesn't respond immediately, glasses slipping down his nose. "Ukaiii-kuuuuun!"
"Shaddup, I hear you!" Ukai barks back, cheeks going pink when a cluster of girls from the tennis team giggle at him as they trot by. "Don't fall over the raiing, idiot!"
Takeda is a mess, his hair is a mess, his receives are a mess, when he tries to talk he gets too excited and his words tumble out a mess. He's stupidly short for a middle blocker and his glasses are held together with tape from a practice incident last week, but he still beams up at Ukai like the sun, already in his gym clothes. "Hi! You'll toss to me today, right?"
"No," Ukai says curtly, shouldering Takeda out of the way so he can go in and get changed himself. He tosses over his shoulder, "Not until after you receive five of Asahi-san's serves."
Takeda's whine of "But that's impossibleeeeee," makes Ukai smile, he can't help it, until Takeda hollers that Ukai is SMILING, he must have seen those TENNIS GIRLS, RIGHT?
Takeda is still waiting around when Ukai emerges, for all his talk about hurrying up and getting to practice, and he trots along with Ukai's longer strides, babbling about his afternoon classes and how he got 40 points on his history test but at least he's doing all right in math.
"Math sucks," Ukai says with feeling, making Takeda trip over his feet for a second because usually Ukai doesn't say anything on their walk over.
"Do you…want help?" Takeda asks. "We could study together! Yachi-san helped me and now I get it fine, so do you want to?"
He means to snap a no, because he's already spent more time today than he wants to on math, but when he opens his mouth it comes out like, "I guess."
"YAY!" Takeda exclaims, hopping up in the air. "My house is far, but I bet Coach will let us hang out at the store, or I could come over to your place, or…"
"IF YOU'VE GOT SO MUCH ENERGY, GET IN HERE AND PRACTICE RECEIVES," Coach Kageyama bellows out the door, and Takeda goes still, face turning pink. And then Sugawara leans out the doorway, his usual smile turned just a bit sneaky, and says he's really glad Ukai is getting along better with his teammates, isn't nicer that way, isn't it?
"Get bent, senpai," Ukai mutters under his breath as he bends to change to his indoor sneakers next to Takeda. Sugawara only laughs at him knowingly, and Ukai hides his pink cheek against his knee.