Work Text:
Yamaguchi's POV
It was a sunny, but chilly winter afternoon. Karasuno was playing a match against Nekoma High-School. They were currently in the second set, and Nekoma was winning with sixteen points, while Karasuno only had eight points. If Karasuno kept going at this rate, the second set would be stolen by Nekoma in an instant.
Yamaguchi sat twiddling his thumbs on the bench in between Sugawara and Kinoshita. Narita and Ennoshita were sitting to the left of Sugawara. Yamaguchi cheered on his teammates with a cheerful smile, however it was all a mask of bright colors. On the inside, Yamaguchi's thoughts were dull and depressing shades of grey.
All of the first years are special except for me. They're all in the starting lineup. They have so much potential and talent. Aside from my half decent serve, I have nothing. I'm nothing.
Yamaguchi's spiraling thoughts were interrupted by Coach Ukai calling his name. "Tadashi!" He exclaimed. Yamaguchi felt a rush of hope and excitement. Was he getting subbed in?
"Yes, sir?" Yamaguchi replied, trying to suppress his obvious hopefulness.
"We're going to take a time out and sub you in for Hinata. Get ready."
"Yes, Coach!" Yamaguchi nodded his head excessively, not even trying to hide his excitement. This was his chance to prove himself! He was going to try his best and all of his hard work would finally pay off. Ukai noticed Tadashi's instant mood change and chuckled to himself.
Before he got off the bench, Yamaguchi felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned around to see Sugawara looking at him.
"Good luck out there, Yamaguchi. You got this." Sugawara said, encouragingly.
Yamaguchi nodded in response. Taking the card with the number on it, Yamaguchi walked confidently out onto the court. Hinata took the card from him, and smiled. "You can do it, Tadashi!" Hinata exclaimed.
“Thanks, Shoyo." Yamaguchi replied. Before stepping one-hundred percent into his place, Yamaguchi glanced at Tsukishima. Tsukishima gave Tadashi a small smirk and nod. Yamaguchi knew Tsukishima was just as excited for him as he was for himself, he just didn't show it.
Finally stepping out onto his spot, Yamaguchi took a deep breath. This was his chance. Yamaguchi felt his heart race as the referee blew his whistle. He tossed the ball up in the air, took a few steps forward, and jumped.
The ball collided with his hand perfectly. The jump-float serve seemed to stay in the air for ages, changing directions constantly. Just as the ball looked as if it were going to go out of bounds, it hit the floor.
Tadashi beamed. He had gotten his team a point, and a service ace! Yamaguchi looked over to the sidelines to see the three second years, Sugawara, and Hinata clapping.
"Nice serve, Yamaguchi! Get another one!" They cheered in unison. Yamaguchi grinned and gave them a thumbs up in response. Tsukishima made eye contact with Yamaguchi and mouthed the words "nice serve". Yamaguchi nodded to show that he received the message.
The second serve went just as smoothly as the last. Nekoma's number three, Yaku, attempted to revive the ball, but he misjudged where the serve would land. The ball ricocheted off of the libero's shoulder and hit the ground. Yamaguchi had scored another point.
The third serve had Yamaguchi scared for a moment. Nekoma had managed to receive the ball this time, but Karasuno ultimately took the point. However, Yamaguchi would not be as lucky on the fourth serve.
The pinch-server held his breath and hit the ball. Unfortunately, he misjudged it. The ball flew perfectly into the receivers arms, which then flew to the setter, and ultimately to the wing-spiker for an attack. Tadashi knew receives weren't his strong-suit. However, he wanted to try. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Tadashi saw the ball sailing perfectly to him. I can do this, he thought.
Yamaguchi called out for the ball, thinking his teammates would let him receive it. However, Karasuno's libero Nishinoya still went for the ball, not knowing Yamaguchi was going for it as well.
As the two boys went for the ball, Yamaguchi tripped over Nishinoya's leg. He tried to land on his feet, but his right ankle collided with the ground with a loud "pop". Yamaguchi gritted his teeth in pain and fell to his knees. Nobody knew what had happened until Yamaguchi attempted to stand up. He put a tiny bit of weight on his ankle, and his leg buckled. Luckily, Nishinoya was standing beside him and was able to steady Yamaguchi before he fell.
"Tadashi!" Tsukishima exclaimed. It was rare that he would display concern so adamantly.
"I'm alright, Tsukki! Don't worry!" Yamaguchi said, shakily. He noticed that his teammates had walked over to him.
"You don’t sound alright." Tskushima retorted. The tall blonde looked down at Yamaguchi's ankle and cringed. "That ankle doesn't look alright either."
Yamaguchi looked down at his ankle, and his face paled. His ankle was bright red and swollen, as well as bent at an awkward angle. Yamaguchi looked back up to see Coach Ukai and Mr. Takeda walking over. Coach Ukai looked relatively calm. Being a seasoned player, he had probably seen injuries like this before. However, Mr. Takeda looked like he was about to have a panic attack.
"Are you alright?! What happened?!" Mr. Takeda started rambling, but Coach Ukai cut him off.
"Specks, calm down. It's probably just sprained. Can I see your ankle, Tadashi?" Yamaguchi nodded, and the coach knelt down to take a look. "It's definitely sprained. Pretty badly, from the looks at it. I'll help you walk to medical." Coach Ukai said.
"Excuse me, Coach?" Everyone turned their head in surprise to see Tsukishima. "May I walk Tadashi to medical?"
Coach Ukai thought for a moment. "Sure, I don't have a problem with that. You know where it is, right?" Coach responded.
"Yes, sir."
"Alright. Ennoshita, we'll sub you in for the time being."
Tsukishima took Yamaguchi's right arm and slung it over his shoulders and lifted him up slightly, supporting his weight. Slowly but surely, they walked off of the court. It took them a few steps to get their rhythm together, but by the time they reached the hallway they were in perfect sync.
"I can't believe this happened." Yamaguchi muttered under his breath.
"What was that, Yamaguchi?" Tsukishima raised his eyebrows. "Nothing. Sorry, Tsukki." Yamaguchi replied.
"Are you sure?" Tsukishima paused.
“It's just, I screwed up my one chance." Yamaguchi's voice broke at the end and tears threatened to spill out. Tsukishima lead Yamaguchi to the bathroom. Once they were in there, he say Yamaguchi down and kneeled in front of him.
“Listen to me, Tadashi. That wasn't your only chance. There will be many, many, many more to come. That injury could've happened to anyone. It wasn't your fault." Tsukishima placed a hand on Yamaguchi's knee.
"I guess, but Coach is probably not going to put me in a game for a long time. I've had plenty of chances, and I've screwed them all up. I feel like the work I do is never enough. Everyone on the team is so special, and all I have is a half-decent serve. I don't even deserve to be on this team." The tears finally spilled over. They ran down Yamaguchi's freckled face as he cried softly.
“Look at me, Tadashi." Tsukishima brushed a lingering tear away with his finger and cupped Yamaguchi's cheek, tilting his head so he'd look at Tsukishima. It was rare for Kei to be so affectionate, and Yamaguchi would have been overjoyed and surprised under better circumstances. "You absolutely deserve to be on this team. If you didn't, you wouldn't have made it past tryouts. Your 'half-decent' serve has scored us countless points in games. Coach sees your hard work. The team sees your hard work. I see and know of all the work you put in more than anyone. You've spent so many hours practicing your serve, and it's paid off. You are enough. You are special. You will realize it soon enough."
"Really, Tsukki?" Yamaguchi breathed.
“Yes."
The two boys stayed in the bathroom for a few more minutes. Tsukishima had shifted his spot to be next to Yamaguchi. He rubbed Yamaguchi's back and occasionally wiped away tears. Once Yamaguchi had stopped crying, Tsukishima pulled away after a few moments.
"Come on, let's walk to medical." Tsukishima got up from the floor.
“Ugh, seriously? I was just enjoying the affection!" Yamaguchi joked.
“Shut up, Yamaguchi." Tsukishima laughed.
“Sorry, Tsukki."