The Devil Who Can Stop Time: Haikyuu x Reader

Ch 23: The Day the World Went Silent

After all the games and meetings were over, you were finally about to go back to your home. Just in time, too. The phone was already ringing by the time you were through the door.

"Hello?"

"You won today's game?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Then I suppose I will be seeing you tomorrow."

"...What?"

"I was able to take off of work to attend the rest of the tournament."

"I-I see."

"Go get some rest. I expect a good show tomorrow."

You hung up the phone, your hands shaking as your heart pounded in fear against your ribcage. He was coming. He would be watching the game tomorrow. You weren't ready yet -- you weren't good enough. You had to get better. You should squeeze as much extra practice in now as possible. Then maybe you'll be slightly more prepared for the game tomorrow.

---

A deep frown had settled on Keishin's face as he watched you warming up. Something was off with you. You weren't nearly as excited as you usually were whenever you were getting ready to play a game, especially against a school you knew was strong. As a matter of fact, he couldn't even recall you so much as smiling all morning, and your usually bright eyes were framed by deep, dark circles. Had your nerves over playing the second best school in the prefecture caused you to have a bad night's sleep? No, you weren't exactly the type to let something like that effect you, and certainly not to this extent. His eyes widened as he watched you serve a ball directly into the net. It was a rare occasion to see you miss a serve at all, and the idea of you hitting the net was almost unthinkable. He had never even once seen you mess up a serve that badly.

"(L/N)!" He called, waving his hand to call you over. You jogged to the sideline obediently, staring up at Keishin. "I want you to sit down for a minute."

"What? Why?" Panic immediately flooded your face, your hands squeezing the volleyball still in your grasp. Oh, god, you felt dizzy.

"Calm down, kid, I just wanted you to take a minute to... get your head on.... straight......" He trailed off, his eyes widening in shock, and his muscles tensing.

"W-what? What is it?" You frowned. Something wet hit your hand, and you glanced down only to find a bright red spot splattered over your thumb. You brought your hand up in shock, the warm stickiness of blood coating your fingers as you brushed them over the top of your lip. A nose bleed? When did that happen?

Suddenly, the dizziness that had been plaguing you all morning hit you like a tidal wave, causing you to stumble over your own two feet. Luckily, Keishin's reactions hadn't dimmed too terribly that he wasn't able to catch you in time, his large hands holding you up by your upper arms.

"Ennoshita, Kiyoko, over here!" Keishin barked, causing the team to turn to him in confusion. The sound of volleyballs hitting the floor echoed everywhere as Karasuno suddenly ceased in their warmups. Ennoshita rushed over, his arm wrapping around your back to help prop you up.

"I-I'm fine, I just tripped," you snapped, glaring up at your brother figure.

"Take (Y/N) to the nurse and get her checked out," Keishin muttered to the manager and second year, completely ignoring your protests.

"I'm perfectly fine, I can still play!" You started struggling in Ennoshita's grip, though it was really more pitiful than anything else, your weak muscles simply helpless against him.

"You can't play until you get rid of that nosebleed anyways, so just go to the nurse!" Keishin snapped. Immediately, you flinched backwards, your body tensing as you looked away from the coach. Slowly and silently, you nodded, allowing Ennoshita to lead you away from the gym, about two paces behind your manager. The boy refused to drop his grip for a single second the entire way there despite your insistence that you were perfectly fine to walk on your own. He didn't even want to leave when the three of you finally arrived at the on-sight nurse. It took a few minutes of Kiyoko insisting that he be returned to the gym in time for the game so that he could reassure the rest of your teammates of your condition before he finally left you two.