Kageyama's Queen of the School [Kageyama Tobio]

[31] Sideline Perspectives

It didn't take long for me to prep our side and jog back to take my spot between Hinata and Tobio. It took even less time than I thought since Kyoko-San had been generous enough to fill up and bring the team's water for us. She gave me a small smile as we exchanged bottles, and I knew then that she knew as much as I did that we'd be done today. I wondered how she'd manage with the older members.

I scooped two extra waters in my arms and let out a deep sigh. Hinata turned to look at me as I approached them, eyes dead. "Did I really do that bad, Tomo-Chan?"

"No!" I quickly said, shaking my hands in front of me in panic. Oh man, not another shot to our spirits.

"Be honest with him, Tomo," Tsukishima snickered behind all of us, "Why aren't you harsher in the gym when it matters."

I detected a slight tinge of bitterness in Tsukishima's tone, and for a second I thought he actually cared about the game. However, when he elicited a glare from Tobio, Tsukishima seemed pleased enough and shuffled away from us.

"We'll stick with this line-up going into the second set!" Coach Ukai said to everyone, hands on his sides. Yes, this made sense. Suga-San was on a roll with throwing Seijoh off. And Tobio still needed some time to cool off... he was holding onto a lot of anger that I couldn't quite place. Granted, I'd never seen the 'King' truly come out.

"Yes, Coach!" the boys replied.

Tobio had his arms to his sides as Hinata and I both spared him a side-glance, gauging his reaction. Surprisingly, there was none when he had shouted back.

"...Yes, Coach!" Hinata huffed out a second later, making it clear he was out of breath and had not been waiting for his best friend to speak first. I pursed my lips, smiling. I was glad at least someone was trying to maintain a sense of teamwork.

"So!" Coach continued, "We knew this going into the game, but... our biggest problem is Oikawa's serves."

I gulped. He was bringing out some of our last resorts.

"So this time, we're going to switch up our definite line to an elite few!" 

Coach dismissed us after that, calling the names of those he was going to use for the next set over to him. I wasted no time in turning to look at Tobio. Hinata had already gone to put away his water.

"Hey, what were you thinking about so hard during these last few points?" I asked him, tapping his forearm with my finger. Tobio looked down at me and blinked, nodding over at the other team.

"I think Kindaichi-San is messing with Sugawara-San somehow..." he mumbled, "I need to be sure though, Sugawara-San could probably tell me..."

My ears perked and I scanned the sidelines for Suga-San. "You have to tell him before they go in then—"

"No, he doesn't have time to hear that." he protested immediately. I felt myself frown.

"No, he does," I snapped back, a bit in disbelief he would choose to be doubtful with communication at a time like this, and a bit annoyed at how snarky he had been these last few moments. After a second, he seemed to have reconsidered because he was on his way over to our Senpai without another word exchanged. My frown settled into a small smile, and Hinata quickly appeared to brighten it more.

"Cheer more for us, Tomo-Chan!" he said, pumping his arms up and down for demonstration, "You need to be louder than them!"

He gestured to the giant crowd of light blue above us and I let out a small chuckle, shaking my head.

"I'll try, but no promises I'll be louder than all of them," I said. I tried to keep my attention towards my bouncing friend, but my eyes went to Tobio behind him. I let out a deep breath. He seemed to be in deep conversation with Suga and I had no intention of interrupting, but the need to pull him away and help him clear his head was really getting to me.