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☀️
It was their turn to wipe the gym’s floor after practice today. Usually, Hinata was paired with Kageyama, but the setter had to leave early today, something to do with his sister coming back home to visit, so Tuskishima took his place. Hinata was sprawled on the gym floor, occasionally sipping from his water bottle, as they waited for the others to finish putting away the net and the balls, when he heard a low, rich voice singing. It wasn’t the best voice, not even the loudest, but the way it carried the notes with such emotion and softness, got him confused and a bit curious.
He sat up, trying to follow the direction of the singing when he noticed Tsukishima from somewhere to his left. He was also sitting on the floor, with his back turned, fumbling for something in his duffle bag, head nodding rhythmically. At first, it seemed to be soft humming, but when Hinata strained his ears, he made out words as the world around him quieted down a bit.
“...'Cause you don't need, nobody else
When you are true, true to yourself
You're skin and bone, you're full of fear
But you are just, a human being …”
Then the voice got quieter, and the singing turned to mumbling, until it faded into the background noise of the gym.
Hinata hadn’t realized he was still staring until he got caught by a visibly flustered Tsukishima.
“I.. I was just.. looking for my phone,” he said, and Hinata just nodded, too shocked to say anything.
Tsukishima blushed even more. “When.. I mean.. How long have you been listening?” He fiddled with his hands, looking around to check if someone else from the team had caught him as well.
“Uh.. I was just waiting for Tanaka-san and Asahi-san to clear up the net..” When his brain finally caught up, Hinata grinned at his flustered expression, already filing this moment under ‘Potential Teasing Material’ for future use.
“Oh. Uh, looks like they’re done,” He pointed to the now-empty gym. “We can start now.” Tsukishima didn’t even wait for Hinata to respond, getting up to his feet and practically fleeing to the storage room to get the cleaning supplies.
Hinata leaned back and smiled. Yep. Definitely teasing material.
🌺
“Do you know where Tsukishima is?” Yachi asked Yamaguchi as he looked up at her from where he was sitting on the gym’s floor.
“The club room,” He replied, “He couldn’t find his sport glasses in his gym bag, so he went to look for them there.”
“Oh, that’s because he left them on one of the benches yesterday.” She remarked, holding up a familiar pair of goggles.
“You better go find him then!” Yachi nodded and left the gym.
Before she even reached the top of the stairs, she could hear a singing voice. She only realized it was Tsukishima’s when she peeked through the gap of the half-open door, and found him standing by his locker, rummaging around for his supposedly missing glasses, his body slowly swaying left and right as he sang.
“... My biggest enemy is me,
Pop a 911,
My biggest enemy is me,
Ever since day one,
Pop a 911,
Then pop another one …”
His clear voice, now a bit off-key, faded away into humming for a moment before he picked up the song somewhere in the middle, singing louder this time and higher, with far too much enthusiasm.
“...Front I've built around me, oasis
Paradise is in my hand,
Holding on so tight to this status,
It's not real but I'll try to grab it …”
Yachi’s eyebrows shot to her hairline. She didn’t know his voice could go that high. She continued to listen intently, trying her best to stay quiet as possible to not reveal herself. However, that was short-lived because when he stretched out his arms above his head, and his swaying turned into a hilariously stiff dance, Yachi couldn’t hold back her snickering.
That was when Tsukishima realized she was there because he tripped on one of the bags lying on the floor, and landed unceremoniously on his butt. His face flushed and his glasses a bit skewed.
Yachi smiled and went over to him. “Are you alright?”
“Sorry, I.. didn’t hear… I mean yes.” He stuttered, hauling himself to his feet.
“It’s okay, Tsukishima.” She eyed him up. Admittedly, his voice wasn’t that bad to listen to, and he could even carry a tune if he tried. He blushed even more under her gaze.
“Have you ever had singing lessons?” She tilted her head, rocking back and forth on her heel.
“Um a few. When I was in elementary,” He blinked at her, adjusting his glasses, “You know, the standard”.
Yachi nodded. “I think you should take lessons. You’re really good.”
“With what time,” He snorted. “But thank you.”
She smiled, ready to walk out of the club room, when she suddenly remembered why she was there in the first place.
“Oh, I almost forgot. I have your glasses!” She said, holding out the pair for him.
“Oh thank you.” He replied with a small smile, taking them from her. “Let’s head back, then.”
🍟
They had just finished practice for the day, and Yamaguchi was walking home with Tsuki. Like usual, after parting ways with Hinata, Kageyama, and Yachi, they continued on their way to their respective houses in comfortable silence.
It wasn’t unusual for Tsukis to put his headphones over his ears and enjoy his music as they walked. Yamaguchi was fine with that. The rare thing, however, was Tsukishima signing to his music.
It started as soft humming at first, which then turned into mumbling of the lyrics. Yamaguchi shot him a curious glance. Tsuki’s eyes were half closed and his head was moving softly to the beat of the music playing in his ears.
“Tomorrow's dead to me, yeah dead already, already,” He cooed and swayed softly.
Yamaguchi lifted an eyebrow. This wasn’t the first time he heard him sing, of course, but Tsuki had never sang depressing songs before, at least not while he was there, so this was a first.
“… Nostalgia creep and destiny
Tomorrow's dead to me, yeah dead already, already …”
Yamaguchi cocked his head and pursed his lips. Maybe today had been one of these days. He lifted his hand to try and grab his attention, to ask him if everything was alright, but then he looked at Tsuki again, and found him to be completely engrossed in whatever song that was playing, a small frown gracing his face.
He smiled and shook his head, changing his mind. Tsuki had a really nice voice. It sounded demanding and powerful, and for some reason, Yamaguchi didn't want to disturb him.
More importantly, nothing is worse than a Tsuki who had been rudely interrupted from his “alone” time with his music. Add that to whatever bad mood he was currently in, and well, Yamaguchi wasn’t ready to stir up that hornets' nest . Not now at least.
Later , Yamaguchi thought, later I’ll ask you what’s wrong. For now, I’ll let you enjoy your depressing song.
👑
Kageyama never quite knew whether he should resent Tsukishima for his intelligent brain or not. Cynical four-eyes loved math, how he made sense of all the numbers, the patterns, and possibilities was remarkable, and sometimes rather frightening.
People shouldn’t possess that much brain power , Kageyama thought, suppressing a little shudder. It wasn’t like he was too bad at it, though. Geometry could make sense if he applied volleyball logic to it. But math in general? He found no pleasure in it. He still asked him for help. Practically begged him, to be honest. Tsukishima liked people on their knees, it seems.
And he calls me King...
They agreed to meet every other day in one of the empty classrooms after school and before practice. Today was one of those days and he was running late. So when he walked closer to the door of Classroom 1-3, he was fully expecting to get an earful about time management and his lack thereof. What he didn’t expect, however, was the soft singing coming from inside, which made him pause briefly, before slipping through the crack in the door as quietly as possible.
Tsukishima was occupying one of the desks closer to the windows, eyes trained on something through the glass, his math book neatly placed on the edge of the table as he waited for Kageyama to arrive. The lyrics that echoed throughout the empty classroom were teasing, and a bit cheerful.
“... Don't act like you know me, like you know me, na-na, yeah
I am not your homie, not your ho -
Ooh, na-na, yeah
Don't act like you know me, like you know me, na-na, yeah
You don't know me ...”
Kageyama’s breath hitched. This was the first time he heard him sing. His voice was somewhat raspy, and quiet enough to blend in the soft background sounds of the school.
He thought it was beautiful.
So he stood there for a bit, letting the sound drift over him, before slowly, slowly approaching the blonde, hoping to not interrupt Tsukishima’s impromptu musical performance. Of course, his luck had other ideas, because once he was halfway across the classroom, his feet bumped into a chair’s leg and he flinched.
The sound startled Tsukishima, who stood abruptly from where he was sitting, his chair nearly falling with the speed at which he moved. And suddenly, Kageyama was looking at a pair of wild gold eyes, flushed cheeks, and parted lips.
“What the hell, King?!” Tsukishima glared at him, then he cleared his throat, attempting to collect himself. “You can’t sneak up on people like that! You almost gave me a heart attack.”
“Don’t call me that,” He replied with a pout, “Besides, it’s your fault for not realizing I was here. How many times do I need to remind you to be more perceptive.”
“More precep-” Tsukishima started, “Shut up. Not a word of this, you hear?”
Kageyama didn’t reply, instead he took a seat in front of Tsukishima’s desk, and turned in his chair, pretending to look for something in his bag. He tried to hide his smile, letting his mind briefly wander to Tsukishima’s beautiful singing voice, before he took out his math book and turned back to look at the blond.
“Yeah yeah, let’s get this over with.” He eventually said, gesturing for him to take a seat.
Tsukishima sighed, and sat down, opening his book to start their session for today.
+🌙
Today was already a shit day in Kei's opinion, and it wasn’t even afternoon yet.
Not only did he have to wake up to the smell of Akiteru burning something in the oven, he was also forced to rush to the gym on a Sunday after he received a text from Suga-san calling for an emergency meeting.
So now, here he was, practically running to the gym. On his birthday.
What made it worse was the fact that no one seemed to remember. He would have thought that at least Yamaguchi would have remembered, but his supposed “best friend” hadn’t even sent him a text to wish him a happy birthday.
He tried to not let it get to him. He wasn’t going to sulk just because the people he thought cared about him had forgotten his birthday.
Standing outside the gym’s double doors, he noticed that everything was quiet. That was definitely unusual, but he reasoned that the others might have not arrived yet. He did run all the way here, after all.
The moment he pushed the doors open, everyone screamed “SURPRISE!!” in happiness. The gym was decorated with streamers and balloons, and a huge banner that said ‘Happy Birthday Tsuki’ hung proudly up on the back railing.
Kei couldn’t believe his eyes. What shocked him even more was the fact that as soon as he stopped inside, his teammates, the managers, and the coaches started singing the “Happy Birthday” song for him.
He closed his eyes and chuckled, letting the sound of their off-key, mismatched voices fill his ears.
So maybe today wasn’t a shit day after all.