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Day 2 ~ Comfort ▪︎ Angel/Demon AU!
Everyone carried around an angel and a demon. Most of the time, they coexisted with their host in harmony. Other times, it was a bit more challenging.
For Yamaguchi Tadashi, the latter happened quite often.
He typically knew how to stop listening to the demon in his head when he needed to, but other times, it wasn't as easy.
He especially hated the little voices during school. He sighed when Noya was able to easily receive one of his serves.
"It's because you're too predictable. Anyone could read those serves."
"You're still learning. That's what practice is for. And you have to remember that Nishinoya is one of the best liberos in the prefecture."
"Although, if you had better serves, it wouldn't be an issue."
"But you've been working with Shimada-san, right? I'm sure you'll get better in no time-"
"Or he'll get left behind."
"Will you cut it out?"
"Hey, Tadashi!" The first year looked up to see Noya already ready on the other side of the net. "We're not stopping till I'm comfortable receiving anything you throw at me."
Yamaguchi grabbed another ball. "Until you're comfortable? But you've managed to receive all my serves."
"But you're keeping me on my toes. If I wanna be the best, I have to make sure I can adapt to anything."
"See? You're doing good!"
"Or he's just being nice."
"Noya isn't the type of person to waste time. He's also genuine."
"Yeah, right! You ready?"
Tadashi shook his head, shrugging away the voices. These were the days it was a little easier. They were just voices and they were easy to ignore.
But it was still a constant nagging in the back of his mind.
When practice was over, he went into their club room. He listened to Hinata and Kageyama arguing about something, laughing to himself as he took off his shirt.
"Yams! Tell Kageyama that power can make up for skill!"
"No, you idiot! If you suck at volleyball, it doesn't matter how much power you have!"
Yamaguchi sighed, shaking his head with a smile. Volleyball idiots will be volleyball idiots. "I think it's best to be well rounded. But if I had to pick, I'd say skill."
"See?! You can ask Tsukishima."
"He'd disagree with the both of us just because."
"Well, Tsukki?" Yamaguchi turned to his left only to find that his companion wasn't there. He frowned. Did he already leave? We usually walk to class together.
"I'm sure he's just waiting outside the club room."
"Or he really did leave you behind. It's not surprising."
"I thought we agreed that Tsukishima was neutral ground."
He watched as two tiny Yamaguchis appeared, sitting in his open cubby. "He is neutral ground. We agreed that we wouldn't talk about him," he whispered, though he knew Hinata and Kageyama couldn't hear him. "He loves me and that's what matters." He finished putting on his uniform, fixing his hair. He then opened his bag so both his angel and demon could hop inside.
He turned to the other two first years. "If the two of you don't hurry up, you'll be late for class. Daichi-san's already watching the two of you. I wouldn't screw up anymore." That got the two of them to look up at him before they looked at each other.
Yamaguchi laughed, waving goodbye before exiting the club room, saying goodbye to his upperclassmen.
"What took you so long?"
He jumped. That was the last time he listened to the two idiots resting in his bag. He glanced at it, knowing that his demon was in it. "Sorry, Tsukki. Got caught up with Hinata and Kageyama."
"Why do you even bother with those two?"
"You know you like them."
"I tolerate them. There's a huge difference."
Yamaguchi laughed, bumping into Tsukishima. "You'll admit one day."
Tsukishima smiled down at him, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. "Whatever you say, Tadashi."
"Sorry, sorry! I'll do better next time!"
"It's fine, Freckles. Shake it off," Ukai said, tossing the ball to Ennoshita on the other side of the net. Yamaguchi sighed, moving to stand next to Suga in the back row.
"Just relax. None of us are perfect," Suga said, smiling at him before Ennoshita served the ball straight to Noya, who received it with ease. He then watched as the ball went from Suga to Asahi before it was received by Daichi on the other side.
It wasn't long before the ball came back to their side of the court, but Daichi's team easily scored when Kinoshita missed the receive. And thus, Daichi's team had won the first set.
It was during their five minute break that Suga called his group over. "Alright, I don't wanna lose to Daichi, and I am the king of giving three sets, so let's win this one and make them go into a third set."
"You sure are fired up for a scrimmage," Asahi laughed.
"Daichi and I have a bit of a competitive streak."
"So what's our plan, vice captain?" Noya asked, drawing them into an actual huddle.
"They get the ball first, so we should put our middle blockers in front. Seeing as we only have Yamaguchi and Narita, I want Asahi up front too. That way, if they decided to put their powerhouses up front, we have our ace to slam through. Noya, I'll put you in the center of the back line since you can't serve as a libero. I don't know why Coach insists on keeping you in but whatever…"
"Yes sir!"
"I'll go ahead and serve first so we can try and get both our wing spikes up front as soon as possible."
"How are you so good at strategizing like this?" Kinoshita asked, shaking his head with a smile. "You're amazing, Suga."
"It comes from observing." He couldn't help but look between Kinoshita, Narita, and Yamaguchi. "Even being on the bench is part of the game."
"You're so cool, Suga!" Noya said, bringing the setter down to his height with an arm around his neck. "Three cheers for our awesome vice captain!"
They all cheered and Yamaguchi’s frown got lost within the huddle.
"They're cheering for Suga because he’s so cool. Why can't you be like that?"
"It's because you're only a first year. You'll have the chance to prove yourself."
"Not if you stay a bench warmer for the rest of high school."
"You won't be a bench warmer for the rest of high school. And in the off chance you are, what Sugawara said is true." Y amaguchi watched as Suga served the ball over the net. Daichi received it with ease (he almost seemed to tease Suga a bit afterwards).
It wasn't long before he found himself getting ready to block a shot from Hinata. Yamaguchi was the only one who was able to read it as a quick attack, so he was able to block the shot.
Only for it to throw him off balance, sending both him and it to the floor.
He groaned, rubbing his hip that was more than likely starting to bruise.
The entire team had gathered around him as Hinata apologized profusely. Asahi was the first to extend his hand. “You alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he mumbled, not making eye contact with anyone as he grabbed the ace’s hand.
“You good, Freckles? That was a nasty fall.”
“It’s nothing.”
Ukai frowned. It was clear to see that the boy was limping. “Practice is just about over anyway, so come sit down while I make announcements. Specs, can you get him some ice?”
Takeda nodded before grabbing his keys and walking off. Yamaguchi sat on the bench, making sure not to sit on his hip.
“It was a good attempt.”
“You didn’t even stop the ball. If this were a real game, you would’ve gotten hurt and the other team still would’ve gotten the point.”
“Just rest. The fact that you managed to catch on to those two’s quick is actually pretty impressive.”
“Here’s that ice, Yamaguchi.” The boy looked up to see Takeda holding a plastic bag full of ice. He thanked the teacher before standing and moving over to the circle, sitting down next to Tsukishima.
“We have another practice game so I wanna switch up the lineup to make sure everyone plays. I want Suga to be our setter so he can get more comfortable setting to the first years. I also want Kinoshita and Ennoshita in with Daichi as our wing spikers. Lastly, I want Tsukishima and Narita to be our middle blockers…”
“Look at that. You still can’t even get in a game. At this point, why are you on the team?”
“Ukai kept the same lineup he always does. Three wing spikers and two middle blockers.”
“But Tsukishima is on the starting lineup.”
“Maybe there’s a good reason for it." Honestly, the voices in his head argued more than Hinata and Kageyama at times. “Maybe if you hadn’t cut Ukai off then he would’ve heard it.”
“Oh, please. What is he gonna do? He won’t kick him off the team because we need people.”
“Alright, you can leave. Get some rest before our practice match. And ice that hip, Freckles.” They all left with a “yes sir”. It was the second years’ turn to clean up the gym, so Yamaguchi was able to grab his stuff and leave.
He didn’t bother changing. He put on his jacket then walked out of the gym, not bothering to say anything to anyone.
It wasn’t until he was a good ways from the school that his angel and demon decided to show up.
“Is your hip feeling better?”
“Not really.”
“Well, you should ice it tonight. You need to be in tip-top shape for tomorrow.”
“Tip-top shape to warm the bench, you mean?”
“Will you just drop it?”
“He’s not wrong.” He turned to the angel sitting on his right shoulder. “I am just a bench warmer.”
“But you’re only a first year. You still have two more years to prove yourself.”
“But he’s the only first year on the team who isn’t a starter.”
“Because he’s technically a middle blocker and the team already has two strong middle blockers-”
“Who are first years, I might add.”
His angel huffed. “So he acts as the team’s pinch server.”
“Which he sucks at.”
“He does not!”
“Half the time, he can’t even get the ball over the net. Honestly, it’s a little embarrassing.”
“But he’s been getting better-”
“Can you two just drop it?!” Both the angel and demon stopped, looking at their host. “I get it. I suck. You don’t need to rub it in.”
“But you’ve been working hard to get better-”
“Can you stop being so positive?! Can’t you clearly see that it’s hopeless?” He flicked his angel off his shoulder, not even watching as he landed in the grass. “I embarrassed myself today and I’ll just continue to embarrass myself if I keep playing. I’m quitting after this practice match.”
“Tadashi, think this through!”
“He’s thought long and hard. Just leave him alone.”
With that, Yamaguchi walked off, his demon weighing heavy on his shoulders.
“He already left?”
“Yeah. He grabbed his stuff and left a few minutes ago,” Suga said with a shrug. “I could tell he was in a bad mood so I didn’t wanna push anything.”
“That makes sense…”
“That’s a load of crap and you know it.”
He tried his best to keep his face neutral. Well, duh. There’s obviously something wrong with him. He wouldn’t just up and leave.
“Maybe he just got sick of you. You are kind of a jerk.”
Look, I don’t want to listen to the two of you fighting like a bunch of children. It gives me a headache and I don’t wanna hear it. So just shut up and give me silence for at least the walk to his house.
“Alright, fine.”
“So grumpy…”
Tsukishima sighed when he could no longer hear the voices. He bid the team a clipped farewell before walking out of the gym.
To his angel and demon’s credit, they did give him silence for the majority of the walk, yet the blonde still found it unsettling.
Yamaguchi was usually there to fill the silence.
“You’re worried about him.”
“I thought I told you to be quiet.”
“I know but still. He was acting weird all of practice so you know he’s probably not gonna want to see you.”
“Okay, and? Why don’t we just barge in?”
“We still have to respect his feelings.”
“Emotions are for the weak!”
“You are such an idiot…”
“Tsukishima?”
The blonde stopped. It sounded like Yamaguchi, but he didn’t see him anywhere. Also, Yamaguchi hardly ever called him Tsukishima. He looked around.
“ Tsukishima, down here!”
“Hey, look!”
His angel flew off his shoulder and landed in the grass. Tsukishima crouched down, raising a brow when he saw his angel hugging Yamaguchi’s. “What are you doing here? Where’s Tadashi?”
“He left me. He got upset and then he tossed me aside. Then he got so far away that I couldn’t find him anymore.”
Tsukishima felt his heart drop to his stomach. He tossed away his angel. That meant…
“You two beat it. You,” he cupped his hand so Yamaguchi’s angel could hop on before placing him in his bag. “Find something to hold onto. It might get bumpy.”
Tsukishima practically sprinted before to Yamaguchi’s house, not entirely surprised to find that the house was completely dark. His parents usually worked late and if Yamaguchi was in as bad of a mood as his angel said, he wouldn’t blame for just wanting to sit in the dark.
He pulled out his key ring, glad that Yamaguchi’s parents had trusted him enough to give him one of the spare keys.
He opened the door, going straight to Yamaguchi’s room. Sure enough, there he was, sitting in the dark with his knees hugged to his chest. Tsukishima frowned. No one that tall should be able to make themselves look so small.
He turned on the younger teen’s desk lamp, not wanting to startle him by turning on the overhead light. He then sat down in front of the teen. “Yamaguchi?” He got no response. He gently shook the boy. “Tadashi, wake up.”
Yamaguchi groaned, lifting his head. Even in the dim light, Tsukishima could tell he’d been crying. “...Tsukki?”
“What’s with you?”
“Nicer!”
The blonde sighed, pushing up his glasses. “You ran out of practice so quickly that I knew something was wrong.” He looked down towards the floor. “And you haven’t been icing your hip. It’s gonna hurt if you don’t.” He pulled his boyfriend to his feet. Yamaguchi didn’t resist. “Now, c’mon. Let’s get you somewhere more comfortable than your bedroom floor.”
They walked into Yamaguchi’s living room. Tsukishima dropped him off on the couch before going over to his bag, unzipping it. His angel popped out.
Neither of them said anything as Tsukishima went over to Yamaguchi’s freezer, grabbing an ice pack.
Neither of them said anything as Tsukishima sat down next to Yamaguchi, placing the ice pack on his hip.
Tsukishima sighed again, placing one of his arms around the back of the couch. An open invitation. “You gonna tell me what’s wrong now?”
Yamaguchi turned so that his face was buried in his boyfriend’s chest. It also caused him to place his hip on the ice pack so Tsukishima wasn’t complaining. “I suck…”
The comment caught Tsukishima off guard. “What are you talking about?”
“I suck at volleyball. I suck at school. I’m always second best or worse in everything. I just suck.”
Tsukishima felt a hint of rage towards Yamaguchi’s demon. “How long have you been alone with your demon?”
“Long enough to realize that everything he was saying was true.”
If Tsukishima felt the tears through his t-shirt, he didn’t say anything. “Why’d you toss your angel away?”
“Because he was being stupid and just trying to make me feel better.”
“Actually, I-”
Tsukishima quickly cut off the boy’s angel with a glare. “And you believed everything he said?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because these demons are dumb.”
“Hey!”
“And so are these angels.”
“Hey!”
He turned to the four of them, who had all gathered on the coffee table. “I don’t wanna hear a peep out of the four of you. Especially you, you damned demon.” When they all disappeared into the confines of the minds, he turned back to his boyfriend. “Now, back to you.”
“Are you mad at me?”
He softened his voice. “Why would I be mad?”
“Because I’m pathetic-”
“Stop it.” He grabbed the boy’s cheeks between his hands, smooshing them together. “You are not useless or pathetic. Stop saying that.”
“But-”
“No buts. You managed to read that Freak Duo’s quick during practice with enough time to try and block it. No one else on your team could read it that quickly.”
“But then I fell.”
“That’s because Shorty only focuses on power and you were trying to block it by yourself. Asahi and Narita actually looked surprised when you jumped at the right time.”
“Then why won’t Ukai put me in the game? Even when we switch up the lineup, I’m still on the bench!” By now, Yamaguchi was full on sobbing.
Tsukishima was confused. “What are you talking about? Ukai never said anything about not putting you in.”
“Then…But he didn’t say my name.”
“But he did.” He wiped away the tears with his thumbs. “You’ll be our pinch server because half of us can't serve to save our lives. He didn’t want to make you a middle blocker because he didn’t wanna freak you out by giving you two things to worry about. He addressed you directly. Did you not hear him?”
Yamaguchi shook his head as best he could with his face still smooshed between his boyfriend’s hands.
“So you’re not pathetic and you don’t suck at volleyball. And you definitely don't suck at school but that's a whole different topic." He let go of Yamaguchi's face in favor of grabbing the pinch server's hands. "If you did, Ukai wouldn’t make you our pinch server when we have two other pinch servers on the team too.” He kissed his forehead. “Now, if you wipe away your tears and promise me something, I’ll take you out for dinner.”
“What’s that?” Yamaguchi wiped his face with a small smile. He couldn't say no to a surprise.
“Stop facing your demons alone. You have people who’ll support you and people who care about you. No one wants to see you like this, especially me, okay?”
“Okay…”
“Promise me.”
“I promise.” He then lunged at Tsukishima, wrapping his arms around his neck. “Thank you for coming to check on me.”
“Why wouldn’t I? I’ve known you for years. I know that you struggle with confidence and I know when that stupid demon of yours likes to get into your head.” He let Yamaguchi kiss his cheek. “I’m here for you, even if it doesn’t always seem like it.”
“I know. I love you, Kei.” He laughed when the blonde turned red. Yamaguchi always found it funny that he could catch him off guard using his first name. “Now…about dinner tonight.”