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Gripping her notebook tightly, Yachi exhaled shakily as she took in the brief moment of quiet on the court. Narita was preparing to serve, and Seijoh’s new starting lineup was locked onto him like...like dogs on a scent.
Yachi flinched a bit at the thought, her eyes sliding to Seijoh’s new Ace as she bit her lip.
Kyoutani Kentarou, the famed Mad Dog of Aobajousai. While he seemed to have sort of calmed down now that he was the Ace, Yachi was still more than a little bit terrified of him. As he slammed a spike into Karasuno’s court, Yachi barely suppressed a squeak at the loud bang that reverberated throughout the gym.
As a Second Year and the now official Manager for Karasuno, Yachi had become a bit more comfortable and confident around her Crows, but that confidence definitely did not extend to strong, intimidating Aces from other teams. While she wanted to be as cool and collected as Shimizu-senpai had been, Yachi couldn’t help but feel more than a bit unprepared for the year’s new experiences. She knew she was far from living up to her senpai’s shoes as she barely suppressed a shiver while Kyoutani prepared for his serve.
Yachi bit her lip as she gripped her clipboard closer to her. The Mad Dog hadn’t been very...consistent with his serving today, his first few going wild but with so much power that Yachi was half-shocked that he didn’t leave dents in the walls afterward. Curling in a bit, Yachi made sure to hide her body behind Takeda-sensei’s as much as possible. If Kyoutani’s serve happened to go wild, Yachi would much rather Takeda-sensei took the brunt of the hit than her.
A few seconds later, Kyoutani tossed the ball in the air and sent it rocketing over the net. Yachi watched in trepidation as Noya faced it head on. Suddenly, the libero stepped to the side, watching the volleyball as it landed outside the court.
Kyoutani veritably growled in annoyance and the new setter (and captain, Yahaba? Yachi thought that might be his name) shot the Ace a look that could peel paint. The Ace tsked and looked away from the setter, his eyes meeting Yachi’s accidentally. Yachi couldn’t help but jump as the Ace’s honey brown eyes briefly met her own before they refocused on Tanaka who was about to serve. Yachi exhaled slowly, pressing a hand to her heart as it rabbited in her chest. Takeda-sensei looked at her in concern, and Yachi sent him a weak smile in response, turning her eyes back to the rally on the court.
“Are you alright, Yachi-san?” Takeda-sensei asked her quietly as Seijoh and Karasuno battled viciously for the next point. Yachi turned to Takeda-sensei with a reassurance on the tip of her tongue before Kyoutani managed to slam a back-court attack through Tsukishima and Kinoshita to end the rally. A squeak came out of Yachi’s mouth instead as she flinched at the aggressive play, and Takeda-sensei frowned a bit.
“If you’d like to take a break from sitting courtside, I could use your help with something?” Takeda-sensei asked, and Yachi felt a small stirring of shame rise within her. She was a Second Year now, she was the official manager; she should be able to handle sitting on the sidelines at a practice match!
But as the turnip-haired player stuffed one of Hinata’s spikes and sent a smug glance at Kageyama who responded with a stormy glare of his own, Yachi felt her throat close as the animosity in the air tripled.
Yachi was terrified, and any chance to take a breather away from the game’s intensity was more than welcome at this moment.
“A-ah, of c-co-course, Takeda-sensei,” Yachi stammered, forcing a tremulous smile to her lips as she stood from the bench. Dropping her clipboard into her seat, Yachi wiped her sweaty palms on her track pants. “W-what do you need me to do?”
“Well,” Takeda-sensei started, but was cut off abruptly by Hinata’s shout.
“YACHI! HEADS UP!”
Startled, Yachi turned toward Hinata only to take in the panicked amber eyes of her friend as he ran towards her before something walloped her in the side of the head.
The next thing Yachi knew, she was staring up at the gym’s ceiling, the rafters weaving drunkenly as her vision slid to and fro. Her blood roared in her ears as she blinked slowly, willing the room to stop spinning so she could figure out what had happened to have her laying on the floor. Dimly, she was aware of voices talking around her but her head pounded something fierce and she couldn’t quite grasp what was being said.
Yachi blinked slowly once more, and this time when her eyes slid open her gaze caught on a pair of intense honey-brown eyes, dark and hooded but filled with unmasked concern. Yachi latched onto that gaze, allowing it to ground her as she struggled to regain her bearings.
“Wow,” Yachi breathed, scarcely aware of anything but the eyes watching her in distress. “Your eyes are beautiful .”
Yachi heard a familiar voice snort behind her followed by the quick sound of a smack, as a rough, deep voice drawled, “And you’re concussed. Sorry about that.”
Abruptly the past few minutes flooded back to her in a rush, and Yachi bolted upright. Nearly missing smacking foreheads with the Ace of Aobajousai, and the most likely culprit for why she had gotten beaned in the head with a volleyball , Yachi groaned in pain as the room began to swim once more.
“Hey, easy there. The volleyball smacked you pretty good,” Kyoutani murmured. Yachi buried her face in her knees as she focused on breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth to stave off any potential vomit.
“Yachi-san,” Takeda-sensei fretted, “how are you feeling? Are you dizzy, or nauseous? Do you have a headache?”
“Woah, take it easy, Specs,” the calm voice of Coach Ukai soothed. “Yachi-san will be alright. Yachi, do you know where you are?”
“I-I’m at Karasuno. It’s our first practice match of the season, and we’re playing Aobajousai,” Yachi mumbled, and she felt more than heard Coach Ukai breathe a sigh of relief.
“Hopefully it’s nothing more than a bad headache and a bruise, but I’d feel better if you went to the nurse with one of the boys to get checked out,” the coach stated, and Yachi nodded her head slowly, opening her eyes just the tiniest bit.
“Please, let me,” Kyoutani cut in, and Yachi’s eyes snapped fully open in surprise. “It’s my fault she got hit. It’s literally the least I can do.”
“Yachi-san, are you alright with Kyoutani-san helping you to the nurse?” Takeda-sensei asked softly, and Yachi sat up from her curled position, looking over at the Seijoh player tentatively. His eyes were locked on hers, a sheepish and apologetic look on his face as he awaited her decision.
“I-I don’t mind Ky-Kyoutani-san helping me i-if he wants to,” Yachi replied and a tiny grateful smile curled Kyoutani’s lips, lighting up his eyes and turning the honey-brown molten.
“Good, then let’s get you up,” Coach Ukai announced as he helped pull Yachi to her feet. Once she was steady, she and Kyoutani left for the nurse.
They managed to get there with no issues, and it wasn’t until the nurse had confirmed that Yachi did not in fact have a concussion and had gotten her an ice pack and painkillers that Yachi turned to the other boy once more.
“I-it’s alright, you know,” Yachi sent a small smile the Ace’s way. “It was an accident! I don’t blame you or anything.”
“You should,” Kyoutani’s voice rumbled in his chest as his molten honey eyes locked with hers. “If my control hadn’t been so off today this probably wouldn’t have happened. So...I’m sorry.”
Yachi shivered for an entirely different reason at the rough sincerity in his voice as she remained trapped in his gaze. “I-it’s fine! Totally. It’s just...water under the bridge,” she squeaked and Kyoutani sighed as he rubbed his hand over the back of his head, the two of them lapsing into silence as they waited for the nurse to release them.
It wasn’t until they were walking back to the gym that Kyoutani broke the silence. “So...you think my eyes are pretty?”
Yachi felt her heart skip a beat as she tripped over her own feet. Thankfully, Kyoutani grabbed her around the waist to prevent her from nose-diving into the concrete (and probably managing to give herself the concussion she’d so narrowly missed getting earlier).
“U-um, I, a-ah, I mean…” Yachi stammered, and Kyoutani chuckled, sending an amused glance her way.
“Don’t worry about it, Little Crow,” Kyoutani replied. “I won’t tease you anymore.”
Yachi sighed heavily as her heart settled back into its normal rhythm and she and Kyoutani continued on their way back to the gym. Just out of sight of the doors, Yachi timidly grasped the older boy’s wrist. Looking down at her in confusion, Kyoutani watched her steadily as Yachi bit her lip.
“You do…,” Yachi confessed, and Kyoutani’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “H-have beautiful eyes,” Yachi continued, and Kyoutani smiled softly at her. It completely changed his face into something almost gentle, and Yachi found herself captivated.
The famed Mad Dog of Seijoh’s golden eyes locked with hers once more as he stepped closer to her, their chests nearly touching as she looked up at him.
“Then, do you want to get dinner with me, Little Crow?” Kyoutani asked. “As an apology for hitting you with a volleyball, but also as a date?”
The smile that spread on Yachi’s face could have lit up Tokyo, it was so bright. Nodding vigorously, Yachi winced as she was abruptly reminded of the bruise just beginning to color the side of her face.
“Ah,” Kyoutani breathed, reaching out and tentatively touching the reddened skin. Yachi felt her cheeks blush in response to the tender touch. “Maybe after your bruise goes away, huh?”
Yachi nodded more gently this time, and she and Kyoutani resumed their trek back to the gym. “I-I’m Yachi. Yachi Hitoka,” Yachi announced as Kyoutani deposited her back at the Karasuno bench.
“Kyoutani Kentarou,” he rumbled. “I’ll talk to you after, Yachi-san.”
Yachi watched as Kyoutani made his way back to the Seijoh bench and conversed for a moment with his coach before moving to re-warm up to get back in the game. She couldn’t help but smile as her eyes met his one more time before Takeda-sensei called her attention back to her statistics and recapped what she had missed.
Yachi would have a spectacular bruise coloring her skin for the next few weeks, which she was not at all looking forward to. But she couldn’t help but be a tiny bit grateful as well, because she knew that dinner with Kyoutani and his dazzling eyes would be waiting for when she was healed. In the meantime, she would get to know the Ace of Aobajousai off the court, get to know both the intimidating strength and the attentive gentleness, and Yachi couldn’t be more excited.
She was ready for whatever her Second Year might bring, especially if it was Aces with honey-brown eyes.